Under a final rule issued by OSHA Sept. 11, contractors will face new deadlines and requirements for reporting severe injuries on the jobsite.
The rule will go into effect Jan. 1, 2015, for all employers covered by the
Occupational Safety and Health Act--even those who are exempt from maintaining injury and illness records.
Contractors will now be
required to notify OSHA within eight hours if there is a work-related fatality on the job and within 24 hours when an employee suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. Before, the rule stated that an employer only had to report work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees.
Employers can
report incidents electronically through OSHA’s new
web portal in addition to phone reporting options.