Effective January 1, 2015, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has expanded its requirement for reporting fatalities and severe injuries, and updated the list of industries exempt from recordkeeping requirements. The rule requires all employers to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye and updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA recordkeeping requirements.
What incidents must be reported to OSHA?
Under the revised rule, employers will be required to notify OSHA of:
- Work-related fatalities within eight hours of knowledge
- Work-related in-patient hospitalizations within 24 hours of knowledge
- Amputations within 24 hours of knowledge
- Losses of an eye within 24 hours of knowledge
Previously, OSHA's regulations required an employer to report only work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees. Reporting single hospitalizations, amputations or loss of an eye was not required under the previous rule.
All employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, even those who are exempt from maintaining injury and illness records as described below, are required to comply with OSHA's new severe injury and illness reporting requirements.
How to report incidents to OSHA
Employers can report these events by telephone to the nearest OSHA Area Office during normal business hours or the 24-hour OSHA hotline 800-321-OSHA [6742], or electronically through a reporting tool accessible at the link below.
Updated list of industries exempt from OSHA recordkeeping requirements
The new rule maintains the exemption for any employer with ten or fewer employees, regardless of their industry classification, from the requirement to routinely keep records of employee injuries and illnesses.
Effective January 1, 2015, OSHA updated the list of industries under its jurisdiction that, due to relatively low occupational injury and illness rates, are exempt from the requirement to routinely keep injury and illness records.
The previous list of exempt industries was based on the old Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system and the revised rule uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to classify establishments by industry. The new list is based on updated injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For more information on the industries now exempt from keeping records or new industries now covered, please visit OSHA’s website. Training material and other guidance to assist newly covered employers with compliance are also available on this website.
New injury and illness data reporting requirements
A new OSHA rule, which took effect Jan. 1, 2017, requires certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness data that they are already required to record on their onsite OSHA Injury and Illness forms. Beginning Aug. 1, 2017, employers can use the Injury Tracking Application to submit injury and illness data to OSHA. Learn more here. Analysis of this data will enable OSHA to use its enforcement and compliance assistance resources more efficiently. Some of the data will also be posted to the OSHA website. OSHA believes that public disclosure will encourage employers to improve workplace safety and provide valuable information to workers, job seekers, customers, researchers, and the general public. The amount of data submitted will vary depending on the size of company and type of industry.
The rule also prohibits employers from discouraging workers from reporting an injury or illness. The final rule requires employers to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation, which can be satisfied by posting the already-required OSHA workplace poster. It also clarifies the existing implicit requirement that an employer’s procedure for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and not deter or discourage employees from reporting; and incorporates the existing statutory prohibition on retaliating against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses. These provisions became effective August 10, 2016, but OSHA delayed their enforcement until Dec. 1, 2016.
Compliance schedule
The new reporting requirements will be phased in over two years:
Establishments with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation must submit information from their 2016 Form 300A by July 1, 2017. OSHA has published a notice of proposed rulemaking to extend this date to December 1, 2017. These same employers will be required to submit information from all 2017 forms (300A, 300, and 301) by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019 and every year thereafter, the information must be submitted by March 2.
Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain high-risk industries must submit information from their 2016 Form 300A by July 1, 2017. OSHA has published a notice of proposed rulemaking to extend this date to December 1, 2017. These same employers will be required to submit information from their 2017 Form 300A by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019 and every year thereafter, the information must be submitted by March 2.
Helpful links
- OSHA Fact Sheet – Updates on OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule: Reporting Fatalities and Severe Injuries
- OSHA Fact Sheet – Updates on OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule: An Overview
- OSHA Fact Sheet – Updates on OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule: Who is Required to Keep Records and Who is Exempt
- OSHA Recordkeeping and Reporting YouTube video
- OSHA Recordkeeping website
- Final revised rule
- OSHA Recordkeeping Update news release
- Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act
- NAICS System
DWC resources
Free OSHA compliance assistance
The DWC provides free help with OSHA compliance assistance to small to medium-size businesses through its Occupational Safety and Health Consultation (OSHCON) Program. OSHCON is a non-regulatory program, and its professional safety and health consultants are available to help you identify and eliminate occupational hazards in your workplace, whether or not your company carries workers’ compensation insurance.
For information about the OSHCON program and help with OSHA standards, including recordkeeping, contact OSHCON at 800-687-7080 or OSHCON@tdi.texas.gov, or visit the OSHCON website.
OSHA recordkeeping training
The DWC offers affordable safety training courses that can be delivered onsite to businesses, groups, and trade associations, with priority given to those industries or occupations that experience high incidences of injuries, illnesses and fatalities in Texas. The DWC offers more than 30 onsite courses, including the following:
OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping course description
The revisions of OSHA’s Recordkeeping standard CFR 1904 that took effect January 1, 2002 and January 1, 2015 are examined and explained. Topics include: which businesses are required to maintain records, criteria for recording different types of illnesses and injuries, differences between medical treatment and first aid, employee privacy safeguards and access to records. Three hands-on exercises are included to give seminar participants experience in working with the new forms. Length: 1-4 hours. Can be delivered via teleconference at no cost
To request training, or for more information, call 512-804-4610 or e-mail safetytraining@tdi.texas.gov.