As of Jan. 1, 2015, OSHA has made changes to its rules about reporting some injuries and who has to keep safety records. Employers should double-check to see if they are covered by the regulations since some states have their own OSHA program that may or may not have different rules.

All employers in states under federal jurisdiction must report some incidents, even if they are normally exempt from keeping OSHA injury and illness records due to their size or industry. That list has been expanded. The list of exempt industries has also changed.

Serious incidents

In the past, all employers under federal OSHA jurisdiction were required to report work-related fatalities and the hospitalization of three or more employees. That requirement has been updated so that all such employers must report the following:

• Fatalities (that occur within 30 days of a work-related incident)
• Inpatient hospitalization of one or more employees that occurs within 24 hours of a work-related incident
• Amputations that occur within 24 hours of a work-related incident
• Loss of an eye that occurs within 24 hours of a work-related incident

Fatalities must be reported within eight hours of the employer finding out about them. The other three situations must be reported within 24 hours of the employer finding out.

Reports can be done by telephone to the nearest OSHA office during normal business hours or to the 24-hour OSHA hotline at 800/321-6742 (OSHA). The agency is also developing an online reporting mechanism that will be available at www.osha.gov.

OSHA defines amputation as “the traumatic loss of a limb or other external body part.” It includes “a part, such as a limb or appendage, that has been severed, cut off, amputated (either completely or partially); fingertip amputations with or without bone loss; medical amputations resulting from irreparable damage; and amputations of body parts that have since been reattached.”

Hospitalization does not have to be reported if it is for diagnostic testing or observation only, but OSHA requires reporting all heart attacks resulting from a work-related incident.

Reports are not necessary if the death or injury occurs on a commercial or public transportation system (airplane, subway, bus, ferry, streetcar, light rail or train) or is the result of a motor-vehicle accident on a public street or highway, unless it happens in a construction work zone.

The report to OSHA must include the following information:

• Establishment name
• Location of the work-related incident
• Time of the work-related incident
• Type of reportable event (i.e., fatality, inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye)
• Number of employees who suffered the event
• Names of the employees who suffered the event
• Contact person and phone number
• Brief description of the work-related incident

Exempt employers

Employers with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year are still exempt from recordkeeping requirements. They are required to report the incidents noted above.

There is also a list of industries that are exempt from recordkeeping requirements due to their injury and illness records — so called low-hazard industries. That list has been updated. To determine if your company is exempt, use the directions at www.osha.gov/recordkeeping2014/records.html.

More details on the new reporting requirements are available at osha.gov/recordkeeping2014.