What OSHA’s New Injury Reporting Rules Mean for Your Business
Over the past year, OSHA has been revamping requirements for certain sectors of safety regulation and injury prevention. Some business owners also believe that OSHA has become more aggressive in their efforts to enforce regulations and promote general worker protection. Among the regulatory changes are updates to injury reporting requirements. The new rules require reports for more types of injuries and will cover all employers, even those who do not typically keep records of injury or illness for OSHA.
What Do the New Guidelines Include?
Prior to January 1, 2015, OSHA required employers to report work-related fatalities and hospitalizations of at least three employees. This year, in addition to fatality reporting, all employers will be required to report:
- Any employee who requires inpatient hospitalization related to work.
- Any amputation related to work. Any loss of limb or appendage, including medical amputations that are required due to extensive damage and fingertip amputations that do not include bone loss.
- Any loss of an eye as a result of a work-related incident.
In states under federal OSHA jurisdiction, reporting requirement updates were implemented on January 1 of this year. In-state safety and health programs may stipulate different implementation dates.
How Much Time Do Businesses Have to Report?
Reporting time requirements vary based on the circumstances of the incident. In general however, the following guidelines apply:
- Fatalities: If a fatality occurs as a result of a work-related incident, the employer must make a report within eight hours of finding out.
- Hospitalizations, amputations, and eye loss: Employers have 24 hours from the time they learn of the incident to make the report.
OSHA requires a fatality report only if the death occurred within 30 days of the incident. Hospitalizations, amputations, and eye losses must be reported only if they occur within 24 hours of the incident.
How a PEO Can Help
New rules from OSHA and other compliance organizations can cause serious implications for business that fail to discover and implement them. Staying up-to-date on new regulations isn’t always easy, however. Many businesses spend significant amounts of time each week in an effort to remain informed about compliance regulations. Still, the National Safety Council reports thousands of serious violations each year, each with a hefty fine.
A PEO can help you avoid the high cost of non-compliance by keeping you up to date on rule changes and implementation policies. By outsourcing this responsibility to the PEO, you gain not only the hours you would have spent researching policies, but also the security of knowing that your business meets current compliance guidelines. Many business owners simply don’t have time to perform the detailed research needed to stay up-to-date. A PEO can give you the assistance you need to remain compliant while still running your business effectively.
Give our free PEO Matching Tool a try to narrow down your search for the PEO that best meets your needs today!
