OSHA ACCIDENT Reporting Regulations: Are you in Compliance?

In 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) passed strict new guidelines on reporting workplace injuries. According to the new regulations that took effect January 1, 2015, all employers must report any work-related amputation, in-patient hospitalization or loss of eye to OSHA within 24 hours whereas previously only hospitalizations were required. These injuries can be reported a number of ways: by reporting directly to an OSHA field office, calling a toll free number, or submitting an online form. These new regulations were enacted to help the agency focus on compliance and enforcement in organizations where workers are at greater risk, and to assist high-hazard employers in identifying and eliminating hazards in the workplace.

New Incident Reporting Procedure

Pushing employers to focus on evaluating their processes and equipment is a step in the right direction to prevent work-place injuries. In the end, most injuries could have been easily prevented with the proper procedures, protection and precautions in place. When an injury occurs, the employer who provides direct daily supervision over the employee must be the one to report the incident to OSHA. Once an injury is reported, employers are instructed by OSHA to perform a Rapid Response Investigation (RRI), in which the employer and a local OSHA Area Office expert work together to address the hazard and promote a safer working environment. OSHA and the National Safety Council (NSC) have published guidelines, “How to Conduct an Incident Investigation,” to facilitate the reporting process when injuries occur. After the RRI is conducted, the employer reports their findings back to OSHA and proposes solutions, which can include new safety procedures, new equipment, updated training guidelines, etc.

While these new regulations have helped increase reporting of many workplace injuries, many more incidents are covered up or go unreported. Hiding or failing to report workplace injuries is against the law and creates an unsafe environment where employees are at an elevated risk. Non-reported incidents have been cited by fines of up to $7000 once discovered, and those fines can be much higher if an employer can be shown to have willfully failed to comply despite being aware of the regulation. Now that these regulations are in their second year, employers will likely be held to strict accountability for failed reporting.

According to a recently published report by OSHA, the new regulations have already proved to be effective to increase reporting and workplace safety awareness.In 2015, there were 10,388 reported incidents of work-related injuries with 7,636 hospitalizations and 2,644 amputations*. The manufacturing industry reported the most incidents (26% of overall hospitalizations and 57% of amputations.)Ideally, this will eventually lead to improved enforcement, reduced workplace hazards and a reduction in overall injuries.

The best way to avoid accidents and citations is to create a safe work environment with carefully monitored procedures. CP Lab Safety offers top-of-the-line safety products for many different workplaces, such as eyewear, safety harnesses, chemical gloves, anti-fatigue mats, and educational training DVDs in an effort to keep people healthy and safe. Preventing injuries before they happen and focusing on personal safety makes any work environment a better business.

Source: https://www.osha.gov/injuryreport/2015.pdf

*Reports were gathered only from states governed by OSHA and do not include injuries from states that have other health & safety programs in place.