ALERTING EMPLOYEES ABOUT
Workplace Hazards

By Lorne Lilienthal

There is no doubt about it, work related injuries are nothing to sneeze at. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that U.S. workers missed 1.46 million days of productive time because of on-the-job injuries in 2001. Multiply that by the National Safety Council’s estimated cost to an employer of $29,000 per incident, and the total for the year is almost $70 billion.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) requires employers to prepare and maintain records of all reportable work-related injuries and illnesses. Companies having 11 or more employees must display a summary (300A Form) of the work-related injuries and illnesses in a conspicuous place where notices to employees are customarily posted. The purpose of the summary is to alert employees about possible workplace hazards. Employers in certain low-hazard business establishments in the retail, services, finance, and real estate industries are exempted from these record keeping requirements.

New OSHA Posting Requirements

Previously, the summary need only be displayed for the entire month of February—but beginning in 2004—the posting requirement was extended for two additional months (i.e., February 1 - April 30). Employers are now also required to prepare a log (Form 300) for all injuries/ illnesses as well as an incident report (Form 301) for each injury/illness. These forms can be obtained by visiting the OSHA website at www.osha.gov.

In addition to the record-keeping requirements, all employers, without exception, must report to OSHA any work-related injury that is serious or results in the death of an employee.

In other OSHA news, Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced on April 12 its site-specific target plan for 2004. As of April 19, the inspection program targets 4,000 high-hazard worksites that reported 15 or more injuries or illnesses for every 100 full-time workers. Also targeted for inspection are nursing homes and personal care facilities as well as 200 randomly selected workplaces that reported low injury and illness rates.

Although the posting requirements are compulsory, they have practical applications as well. Informing employees of general workplace hazards will decrease the number of employment related injuries and illnesses. For employers, this translates into higher revenues as there will be fewer workers’ compensation claims and increased productivity.

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