OSHA announces new reporting requirements
The New Year has arrived. For employers under the federal jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, that means more than just making resolutions, they will need to comply with new reporting requirements that went into effect Jan. 1, 2015.
Employers will now be required to report all work-related fatalities within eight hours and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and losses of an eye within 24 hours of finding about the incident. Previously, employers were required to report all workplace fatalities and when three or more workers were hospitalized in the same incident.
There will be three options for employers to report. They will be able to call their nearest area office during normal business hours, call the 24-hour OSHA hotline at 1-800-321-OSHA (1-800-321-6742), or report online.
Since announcing the new requirements in September, we’ve been conducting extensive outreach to make sure employers understand what to do when they go into effect. Just last week, we held a live Twitter chat to answer questions.
We also have a variety of additional resources for employers including a dedicated webpage, more FAQs, a fact sheet, and a video I recorded to help explain the new requirements.
It’s important to remember that these updated reporting requirements are not simply paperwork but have a life-saving purpose: they will help employers and workers prevent future injuries by identifying and eliminating the most serious workplace hazards.
I think we can all agree that’s something to celebrate in the New Year.
Dr. David Michaels is the assistant secretary of labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
