OSHA requirements on report fatality

sonny

It is my understanding that OSHA provisions do not apply to state and local governments, but I read that employers normally exempted are required to comply with standards of reporting to OSHA within 8 hours any work related fatality. Could someone confirm for me that even tho we are a municipality exempt from regs, we would have to report to OSHA a fatality? Thanks in advance.

System

Tough question, Sonny. I'm not sure that the article you read meant state & local gov't employers when it mentioned "exempt" employers. Everything I've read points to "exempt" meaning certain exempt industries in the private sector ... but it's a little fuzzy. Here's one applicable paragraph from our special report "[link:www.hrhero.com/special.shtml#osha|The H in OSHA Stands for Health]":

"Generally, every employer who has at least 10 employees must comply with the record keeping regulations. ... In addition to the exemption for small businesses, OSHA regards some industries as low-hazard and has exempted them from the record keeping requirements regardless of how many employees they have. When OSHA issued their new, updated record keeping regulations in 2000, they modified the list of industries that are exempt from the record keeping requirements. Several industries that were covered under the previous regulations received an exemption, including meat and fish markets and some physicians’ offices."

The OSHA website says that each state has the option of creating it's own safety standards (to be approved by OSHA) to cover its state and local government employers. Here's a link to more info on those requirements:

OSHA COVERAGE OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKERS
(it asks for a password, but just hit cancel)
[url]http://www.osha-slc.gov/fso/osp/Public_Sector.html[/url]

Directory of States with Approved Occupational Safety and Health Plans
[url]http://www.osha.gov/oshdir/states.html[/url]

I submitted your question on the OSHA website, so we'll see if we get an answer back. If anyone else can pipe in on this topic, please do!

Christy Reeder
Website Managing Editor
[url]www.HRhero.com[/url]

sonny

Thanks for your input. It's all clear as mud to me! Fortunately, the incident that raised the question (chlorine exposure) did not result in a fatality, but it did get us wondering. Our carrier assured us it would NOT have to be reported, but somehow I just feel it would. Will continue to do some research. Thanks again.

System

I have to agree with you - this aspect of the law is as clear as mud! To help your research, here's another excerpt from the special report I mentioned above that lines up with what you read:

"OSHA wants to be aware of all work-related fatalities and the hospitalization of three or more employees. If you have a fatality in your workplace, or an incident that results in the inpatient hospitalization of three or more employees, you must report it to the nearest OSHA office within eight hours of the incident.

You can also report the incident to OSHA by calling their toll-free number at (800) 321-OSHA. All employers are required to report these incidents to OSHA, regardless of how many employees they have, or whether they fall into any of the exempt categories [mentioned in the previous post above]. In cases of fatalities or hospitalizations, OSHA will most likely do an investigation of the workplace to determine what caused the accident and whether any OSHA standards were violated."

HR Executive Report: "The H in OSHA Stands for Health"
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/special.shtml#osha[/url]

Good luck!

Christy

sonny

Thanks again, these are some good sites. God willing, we will never be faced with having to make the decision, but if we were, at this point, I would report it! A great 2002 to you all.

System

Someone from the DOL called me today to answer your question. She said that Florida is not a State Plan State (as mentioned in the links I provided above), therefore, public sector employers in Florida are not governed by any safety laws. You would not need to report a fatality. The exemptions that you read about are for partially-exempt employers as defined in the Recordkeeping Preamble of OSHA.

Hope this answers your question!

For public-sector employers in other states, you'll want to see if yours is a State Plan State. Your state's safety plan for public-sector employers will tell you the requirements for your company.

sonny

Thanks for your hard work and solving the puzzle!