The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s revised recordkeeping rule goes into effect on January 1, 2015. OSHA’s recordkeeping rule requires covered employers to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses, using the OSHA 300 Log.
The revised rule includes two key changes: First, the rule revises the list of low-hazard industries that are exempt from the requirement to routinely keep OSHA injury and illness records. To determine whether your business is exempt under the new rule, visit OSHA’s website here. Employers with ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year remain exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness records.
Second, the rule expands the list of severe work-related injuries that all covered employers must report to OSHA. The previous rule required employers to report to OSHA within 24 hours all work-related in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees. The revised rule applies to work-related in-patient hospitalizations of one or more employees and adds the requirement to report to OSHA any work-related amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours. The revised rule retains the current requirement to report all work-related fatalities within eight hours. These rules apply to all employers under OSHA’s jurisdiction (most private sector employers are covered), including those that are exempt from the routine record-keeping rules.
For additional details, see OSHA’s fact sheet on the new recordkeeping requirements.