07/01/2012
To all Business owners and HR people....OSHA RECORD KEEPING- DOES IT APPLY TO YOU?
by Gamm Partners Inc. on Saturday, 6/30/2012
In October, 2011 OSHA released new regulations for OSHA Recordkeeping and reporting. This can be extremely important considering OSHA has a national emphasis program meaning, they will be taking a closer look at business that have 10 or more employee’s. This will lead to issuing more citations and fines. The old regulations were set at 30 or more employees.
Recent changes have also increased the focus to enforcement. OSHA had added an additional 25 compliance inspectors, while shifting 35 more currently doing other activities. This is on top of the already 100 new OSHA inspectors added with the 2010 budget. More compliance inspectors mean you should expect additional enforcement activities.
Penalties will also be going up.
The current maximum penalty for a serious violation is $7,000 and is increasing to a maximum of $12,000.
The current maximum penalty for a willful violation is $70,000 and is increasing to a maximum of $250,000.
The average serious violation will increase from about $1,000 to an average of $3,000 to $4,000.
OSHA's program documents, based on several academic studies, have asserted varying degrees of under reporting workplace injuries and illnesses on the OSHA Form 300. The presumed under reporting by many employers means you better know and understand what applies to you.
As a general rule, OSHA record keeping requirements can be found in 29 CFR 1904.1(a)(1). It states if your company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year, you do not need to keep your OSHA injury and illness records unless OSHA informs you in writing that you must keep records.
If you have 10 or less employees at any time in the calendar year? There is a good chance you don't need to keep these records for OSHA unless they are requested.
