OSHA Revises Rule on Injury and Illness Reporting and Recordkeeping

Howard Sokol is a Partner in our New York office and Gina A. Fonte is Senior Counsel in our Boston office.

HIGHLIGHTS:

On Jan. 1, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) final rule takes effect requiring employers to notify OSHA within eight hours, when an employee is killed on the job; and within 24 hours, when an employee suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The revised reporting rule underscores OSHA's strategy and focus for requiring employers to be vigilant in monitoring their workplaces and providing a safe environment for their employees. The information gathered as a result of the widened scope of the required reporting will be studied and used by OSHA to target certain workplace hazards in specific industries. On Jan. 1, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) final rule takes effect requiring employers to notify OSHA within eight hours, when an employee is killed on the job; and within 24 hours, when an employee suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The current notification rule, codified in 29 C.F.R. §1904.39, does not require employers to report to OSHA single hospitalizations, only if three or more workers are hospitalized, nor does it require employers to report amputations or loss of an eye. The revised rule also updates the list of those employers partially exempt from OSHA's recordkeeping requirements, as explained below. While the revised rule applies only to workplaces under the jurisdiction of federal OSHA, state-plan administrators that have been charged with setting their own implementation dates are encouraged by OSHA to implement the revised rule by Jan. 1, 2015. Currently 21 states and Puerto Rico have their own state plans covering private sector workers, and a handful of states already require the reporting of single in-patient hospitalizations and the reporting of work-related amputations.

The New Rule: Background and Purpose

In 2013 more than 4,400 employees were killed on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) 2013 National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, stated that the revised rule:

is aimed at creating a more interactive relationship between employers and OSHA will serve as a renewed impetus for employers to ensure that they are aware of and meet their...