As we discussed at our September ginner meetings, the new OSHA reporting requirements is resulting in a LOT more on-site inspections by OSHA. According to an article in Jackson and Lewis OSHA Law Blog, about 40 percent of the reported accidents are getting on-site inspections. This is right in line with the expectation most people had prior to the requirements actually taking effect. The article goes on to state that about 1/2 of the reported accidents are getting the “Rapid Response Investigation” (RRI) where OSHA asks for additional information from the employer. The remaining 10 pct are either not technically reportable or are outside OSHA jurisdiction. At this time I can tell you that we have had 100 percent of our reported injuries inspected. 

Additional information in the article includes a link to OSHA’s State Adoption Table for the new reporting requirements. This is for the 26 states that are “State Plan” states for OSHA. In our region, we have three “State Plan” States where OSHA duties are carried out by a state agency instead of Federal. North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia are state plans with Alabama, Florida, and Georgia being Federal OSHA states. The only state that differs from the Federal reporting requirements is Virginia. All reportable injuries must be done within eight hours where the federal rules stipulate only fatalities have such a short time frame with the remainder having 24 hrs.

More information on the OSHA reporting requirements can be found on OSHA’s website dedicated to Reporting and Record Keeping.

If you have questions about this please don’t hesitate to call the office.

DSF