As we reported early last year, OSHA’s recordkeeping rules for injury and illness on the worksite have been updated, putting new requirements for construction sites that fall under Federal OSHA jurisdiction.
OSHA has always maintained the obligation for companies to maintain accurate records of accidents onsite, and the newest rules have made two important changes that relate to the timeframe in which such accidents should be reported. Specifically: All work-related fatalities must be reported within 8 hours; and all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye within 24 hours.
In addition, OSHA has added an occupational hearing loss column to OSHA’s Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. The Hearing Loss modification on Forms 300 and 300A are found in column M(5).
In response to public suggestions, OSHA has made several changes to the forms package to make the recordkeeping materials clearer and easier to use. These include:
- On Form 300, OSHA has switched the positions of the day count columns. The days “away from work” column now comes before the days “on job transfer or restriction.”
- The formulas for calculating incidence rates has been clarified.
- On Form 300, the column heading “Classify the Case” is more prominent to make it clear that employers should mark only one selection among the four columns offered.
OSHA’s rule also updates the list of industries that are exempt from the requirement to routinely keep OSHA injury and illness records, due to relatively low occupational injury and illness rates. The new list of industries that are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness records is based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from 2007, 2008, and 2009.
The new rule retains the exemption for any employer with ten or fewer employees, regardless of their industry classification, from the requirement to routinely keep records.
OSHA’s booklet is a helpful tool to make the process for reporting injury and outlines all the salient points that must be covered, including the changes that have occurred in the past several years.
For more information and inquiries about recordkeeping requirements, contact our offices at Diversified Safety Services.
