OSHA rules

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     New OSHA record-keeping and reporting rules took effect Jan. 1, 2015. If your business had 10 or fewer employees during the calendar year 2014, you are exempt from the new record-keeping rules.

     The Occupational Safety and Health administration has also revised the list of industries that are now covered. More have been added, among them, bakeries, auto dealers, specialty food stores, store retailers, building materials and supplies dealers, health care services, performing arts companies, beer, wine and liquor stores, professional services, and many more. The full list is at OSHA.gov. 

     OSHA has also expanded the list of work-related injuries that must be reported. All injuries, including work-related fatalities, must continue to be reported within 8 hours. Added is "the requirement to report all work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye within 24 hours." 

     Further, if your state operates its own safety and health programs, check your state for the implementation date--it might be much later in this year. Detailed listings by state are at the OSHA.gov website. Note also that record-keeping and reporting are two separate requirements. Don't confuse the two. 

     This is written as an alert to operators of small businesses. For the actual requirements and more information, see the OSHA.gov website.

     The good intentions that put bureaucracies in place can frequently choke the animal they are sent to control. I venture to say that no one--NO ONE--has ever read all the rules that are in place in all the federal bureaucracies, much less the actual laws that Congress put in place that resulted in all the rules.