All U.S. businesses should be aware of new OSHA incident reporting requirements that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. Adjustments of OSHA-notification policies will be necessary to comply with the new rules.

The major change relates to reporting hospitalizations due to workplace accidents. Previously, companies only had to report to OSHA when three or more people were hospitalized. Under the new requirements, companies will have to report all hospitalizations. 

OSHA is changing its requirements for reporting hospitalizations due to occupational injuries.OSHA has relaxed the time period for reporting hospitalizations from eight hours to 24 hours, but the new rules clearly put more responsibility on businesses because of the lowering of the number of hospitalizations that necessitate a report. No serious workplace incidents will escape the attention of OSHA.

In addition, the new rules specify that any work-related amputations or eye losses—even in some circumstance that doesn’t involve hospitalizationmust be reported within 24 hours.

The rules for reporting work-related fatalities remain the same—each death must be reported within eight hours.

The Jan. 1 effective date applies to employers under Federal OSHA's jurisdiction. Companies in a state with a state-run OSHA program should contact their state plan for the implementation date.

You have three options for reporting to OSHA:

For more information about the changes, visit OSHA's web page on the updated reporting requirements and watch OSHA’s YouTube video, where Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, explains the new reporting requirements.

OSHA will also be on Twitter today from 1-2 pm EST to answer questions about the new rules. Use the hashtag #Reporting2015 to participate and follow the conversation.

Takeaway

Adhering to the new OSHA rules won’t be difficult, but it will require adjusting of reporting policies to comply with the new rules. Failing to make these simple policy adjustments will leave you vulnerable to OSHA fines, so do it before the New Year hits!

Tags: safety management, OSHA

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