Changes in OSHA’s Incident-Reporting Rules

Posted on by

Today’s post comes from guest author Leonard Jernigan, from The Jernigan Law Firm in North Carolina. He writes about updates that the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will require of businesses when it comes to reporting workplace incidents. I found the links at the end of the article both informative and eye-opening. In addition, I thought the article from the industry publication, Risk and Insurance, was especially telling as to how businesses should be prepared for the new reporting requirements. It will definitely be interesting to see how these new requirements affect the number of incidents and hopefully result in safer workplaces for all.

Starting January 1, 2015 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will enact new changes in its workplace incident reporting rules. These rules will increase the amount of reporting when it comes to hospitalizations caused by workplace injuries, as well as increase accountability and transparency among employers. According to U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, the new requirements will “help OSHA focus its resources and hold employers accountable for preventing [workplace injuries and deaths].”

Here are the changes that will soon be in place:

  • Employers must notify OSHA within 24 hours of a workplace injury that led to in-patient hospitalization, amputations or loss of an eye.
  • Employers must notify OSHA of workplace death within eight hours of the incident.
  • More industries will be required to keep OSHA 300 injury and illness records, which will be made available on OSHA’s website. Some of these industries include: specialty food stores, bakeries, automobile dealers, museums, activities related to real estate, and more.
  • All employers must follow these requirements, including those who have been exempt from keeping OSHA records.

If you’d like to learn more about OSHA’s new record keeping and reporting rules, visit the following websites for more details:

 

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in OSHA and tagged , , .