OSHA's Revised Recordkeeping Rule: Major Implications on Employers.

As many employers know all too well, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) requires them to record work-related injuries and illnesses and to maintain the OSHA 300 Log for five years. Moreover, OSHA requires all employers to report to OSHA certain serious injuries within a short time period. On September 11, 2014, OSHA announced its Final Rule revising the current recordkeeping standard, which will significantly expand the recordkeeping rule’s reach to hundreds of thousands of new employers and place further burdens on employers to report additional workplace injuries and illnesses. Since these new rules become effective on January 1, 2015, employers have little time to modify their practices and prepare for the coming wave of enforcement.