Kentucky employers are being cited and fined for not following a November 1, 2006, KY-OSHA rule requiring

Employers are also be required to report any amputation suffered by an employee from any work-related incident.  Hospitalizations of one to two employees and amputations must be reported to the Kentucky Department of Labor within seventy-two hours. 

The reporting time is considered the time from which an employer, employer’s agent, or another employee first becomes aware of the fatality, catastrophe, amputation, or hospitalization. 

Although it is not clearly defined in the Kentucky Administrative Regulation, according to the Kentucky Department of Labor an in-patient hospitalization will be considered any time when a patient is admitted to the hospital for more than twenty-four (24) hours for any reason other than observation.  

This Kentucky specific reporting requirement does not affect any of the other OSHA regulations related to reporting injuries and fatalities.  Employers for years are required under OSHA to report fatalities and catastrophes (defined as the hospitalization of three or more employees in a single incident).  According to KY Department of Labor Health Standards Specialist David Stumbo, the legislation was enacted to enable KYOSHA to reprioritize their limited resources towards employers whom they know are actively in business and may have violated KYOSHA regulations. 

The KYOSHA Division of Compliance currently conducts “general schedule” inspections.  These general schedule inspections are random inspections of employers and will continue to occur.  However, in the new system KYOSHA also investigates reports from employers as a result of the 2006 reporting requirements by using a recently developed prioritization system.  Situations that could pose a greater danger to employees and the potential for compliance violations will be given higher priority.   

While this regulation is set to expire on December 31, 2008.  Stumbo states that there is an effort to make this rule stay in effect much past this date.  Violations of the reporting requirement would fall under the “other than serious” category with citations which could reach up to $5,000. These reporting requirements will create a higher likelihood of a workplace inspection if a hospitalization or amputation occurs for Kentucky employers.  For more information visit the Occupational Safety & Health section of the Kentucky Labor Department website at http://www.labor.ky.gov/ows/osh/ or contact the KYOSHA Division of Education and Training at (502) 564-3070.

If you haven’t already, you should create or update your Accident Reporting Procedures to establish a policy on how accidents are handled within your organization.  The policy should include how to report an injury both within a company and to external organizations such as your worker’s compensation provider and KYOSHA (if required). 

Other elements to include would be personnel responsibilities, contact lists, and the implementation of necessary training to convey this information to the individuals affected by the policy.  Many companies incorporate this information into their Emergency Action Plan.  This document assists employers in guiding them through all foreseeable emergency situations such as fires, severe weather, earthquakes, medical emergencies, and so on.

Companies can also prepare by creating a company OSHA Inspection Policy in the event an inspector shows up at your doorstep.  This gives an added benefit of defining what the organization needs to do before, during, and after an inspection. 

For more information on the changes in Kentucky reporting, the web page http://www.labor.ky.gov/ows/osh/ has a posting titled “Informational Bulletin 01-2006: Reporting Workplace Amputations and Hospitalizations”.  This document was created to assist employers in understanding the new requirements.  To view the Kentucky Administrative Regulation, visit www.labor.ky.gov/osh/oshregulations and click on “803 KAR 2:180. Recordkeeping; reporting; statistics”.

Reporting Workplace Amputations and Hospitalizations Incident Comparison Table

Notes:1. Reporting time is the time from which an employer, employer’s agent, or another employee first becomes aware of the fatality, catastrophe, amputation, or hospitalization.

2. See: 29 CFR 1904.39(b)(6).

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 2:38 pm and is filed under OSHA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.