If you missed the memo, this month, businesses all over the country face new requirements for reporting on workplace accidents. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA has come up with a new rule that will create more transparency and worker safety.
As of January 1, 2015, employers with over 10 employees are required to record any workplace fatalities within eight hours. Other kinds of serious injury require a 24-hour deadline for reporting, including:
- Hospitalizations
- Amputations
- Loss of an eye
These federally imposed guidelines will also be enforced at the state level for states that have their own worker safety plans. The change includes a new look at high risk industries and places where worker injury may be a frequent phenomenon that goes largely unnoticed.
Purpose of the Record Keeping Rule
The reason that OSHA instituted this new rule is relatively straightforward — it improves access to information for researchers, and it helps government agencies and others to identify those most dangerous workplaces and most dangerous industries, where workers need the most protection.
OSHA has done a lot to protect workers. From requiring a range of Personal Protective Equipment, to doing oversight on things like chemical safety posting and equipment maintenance, OSHA is dedicated to making sure that employers understand their responsibilities to those who may take risks while working for them. OSHA will conduct workplace audits, and fine companies that are operating in sub-par conditions. But they also provide training and other resources to create safer workplaces.
OSHA also looks more closely at industries with more risk — for instance, this government agency has been closely involved in looking at the roofing industry, heavy manufacturing and other places where certain types of serious injury most often occur. But having the new reporting requirements is going to give everyone more information to show where front-line workers are most threatened — and that’s going to have an impact on preventing workplace accidents.
For more on worker safety and everything else that has to do with staffing, take a look at how Full Steam Staffing supports clients in the Ontario, California area.
We help businesses to achieve and take on the future with confidence, by offering various types of consulting in addition to core staffing services. Make 2015 a year to get fully compliant and organized to promote business growth and expansion.