Here are some recent examples of important changes in reporting laws:

• On September 11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced expanded regulations for notifying OSHA when employees suffer work-related injuries. Employers must now report an employee's in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye (previously, accidents had to be reported only if three or more employees were hospitalized and/or one or more employees died, and accidents causing an amputation or the loss of an eye did not need to be reported at all).
• The same rule also requires that all employers covered by OSHA — even those exempt from maintaining injury and illness records – must comply with these new reporting requirements.
• The rule also adds 25 new types of business to the OSHA recordkeeping and reporting requirements, such as automobile dealers, liquor stores, performing arts facilities, museums, bakeries and building material and supply dealers, which were exempt under the old rule.

Employers and states under federal OSHA jurisdiction, which includes Ohio, must comply with these new requirements as of January 1, 2015.

These new rules will pose challenges to many employers. OSHA regulations require accidents to be reported within eight hours for workplace fatalities and within 24 hours for in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and losses of an eye.

That means employers should consider these actions in advance of the January 1 effective date:

First, determine if your industry is among those covered by the new laws.  A comprehensive list of industries subject to OSHA regulations can be found at this link on the OSHA website: tinyurl.com/q6q47lc.

Second, maintain an injury log to properly document workplace injuries. It is advisable to log all injuries requiring medical treatment, regardless of severity. A sample example injury log can be obtained at this link: tinyurl.com/lrsuwxs.

Third, ensure that your company has an effective reporting system in place. Make sure all managers and appropriate non-managerial employees are aware of it and trained to follow it. When submitting a report to OSHA, employers must disclose the following:

• Company name.
• Location and time of the work-related event.
• Type of event (i.e., fatality, in-patient hospitalization, etc.).
• Number of injured employees.
• Names of injured employees.
• Contact information for the company representative to OSHA.
• A brief description of the work-related incident.

Finally, if anything about these new rules is unclear, consult an attorney with experience in employment law. OSHA will pursue and cite employers who do not report these events in accordance with the established time frames.

To assist employers in fulfilling these new requirements electronically, OSHA is developing a new web portal. More information about the portal and the new rules can be found at this link: osha.gov/report_online.

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Matthew M. Ries lawyer with Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell, Ltd. He can be reached at mries@hhmlaw.com or at (330) 392-1541.