OSHA wants to make significant changes to its injury reporting regulations. One involves which companies have to report. The other involves the situations that have to be reported.
OSHA will start using the North American Industrial Classification System instead of the older Standard Industrial Classification system to determine which businesses do and don’t have to report injury data.
More than 198,000 businesses that previously didn’t have to report will now be required to. The list includes:
- auto dealerships
- bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
- some miscellaneous store retailers
- activities related to real estate
- performing arts companies, and
- some amusement and recreation industries.
Some businesses (119,000) that are currently required to report will come off the list, including:
- electronics and appliance stores
- health and personal care stores
- gas stations
- newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishers
- radio and TV broadcasting, and
- Internet service providers and web search portals.
Currently, businesses have to notify OSHA within eight hours of work-related fatalities or incidents in which three or more workers are hospitalized.
OSHA proposes two major changes:
- Companies would have to report all work-related in-patient hospitalizations, and
- Employers would have to report all work-related amputations within 24 hours.
An in-patient hospitalization occurs when a person is admitted to a hospital or clinic for at least one overnight stay.
Amputations include loss of limb or other external body part, including a fingertip. For an injury to be classified as an amputation, bone must be lost.
OSHA says the proposed revisions would enable it to more effectively target its inspections.
Companies can comment on the proposal until Sept. 20, 2011.
OSHA has posted an FAQ on the proposal here. You can download a PDF of the complete proposal, including a list of affected industries, here.
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