by Shane Henson — June 27, 2011—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking an update and revision of two aspects of the agency’s recordkeeping and reporting requirements for work-related injuries and illnesses.
The new proposed reporting requirements revise OSHA’s current regulation that requires an employer to report to OSHA, within eight hours, all work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees. Under the revised proposal, employers would be required to report any work-related fatalities and all in-patient hospitalizations within eight hours, and work-related amputations within 24 hours. Reporting amputations is not required under the current regulation.
OSHA is also proposing to update Appendix A of the recordkeeping rule (Part 1904 Subpart B) that lists industries partially exempt from the requirements to maintain work-related injury or illness logs.
OSHA is requesting public comments on the proposed revisions, and has included in the proposed rule’s preamble specific questions about issues and potential alternatives. Comments must be submitted by September 20, 2011. See the Federal Register notice for details on how to submit comments.
To educate employers and employees on the proposed changes, OSHA updated its Recordkeeping Web page to include answers to frequently asked questions regarding the proposed rule.
