For many employers with more than 10 employees, the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) has issued a requirement that all work-related injuries or illnesses must be properly reported and recorded by the employer to OSHA.
Established to help OSHA, employers, and workers alike all stay informed on workplace safety and industry hazards, the rule only applies for serious injuries or illnesses that require treatment beyond minor first-aid. Each qualifying case must be documented and stored within the workplace for at least five years, while accident summaries should be submitted by employers every year by February through April. In addition, all workers, their representatives, or authorized authorities have a legal right to request copies of the reports at any time.
Work-related injuries or illnesses that OSHA consider to be “serious” fall under the following categories:
- Work-related deaths.
- Any injury or illness that requires hospitalization or medical treatment beyond basic first aid.
- Sickness or injury that causes unconsciousness, restricted work, days away from work, or a job transfer.
- Any work-related diagnosis of cancer, chronic irreversible diseases, cracked or fractured bones and teeth, or punctured eardrums.
- Work-related injury and illness cases involving needlesticks and sharps injuries, medical removal, hearing loss, and tuberculosis (see links for specific recording requirements).
All workplace deaths must be reported within 8 hours, while all amputations, hospitalization, or loss of an eye should be reported within 24 hours to OSHA by calling (800) 321-6742 or through online reporting. All other injuries or sicknesses can be reported through standardized 300, 300A, and 301 forms, or through electronic submissions – the filing deadline for 2017’s cases falling on July 1st, 2018.
Stay up to code with your business, while helping to improve workplace safety, awareness, and regulation by submitting all your work-related injury and illness claims to OSHA in a timely manner.
(Thanks to this article by OSHA for the research!)
