To comply with new injury reporting standards imposed by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, employers in Texas are obligated to report serious work-related injuries to OSHA within 24 hours. Employers must communicate with OSHA about any workplace injuries that result in amputation, in-patient hospitalization or eye loss. The new reporting standards became effective in January 2015.
OSHA has now put together a report analyzing data from the first year of the injury reporting rule. While OSHA acknowledged that most employers acted in good faith to report severe injuries, the agency also concluded that up to 50 percent of employers might have ignored their reporting duties. OSHA was able to determine that there were unreported injuries in 2015 by looking at workers’ compensation claim data.
In the first full year of the severe injury reporting program, there were 7,636 hospitalizations reported and 2,644 amputations reported. The greatest number of hospitalizations involved manufacturing workers followed by construction workers. More than 50 percent of amputations that were reported to OSHA in 2015 had taken place in the manufacturing sector. OSHA’s new injury reporting rule requires most employers to conduct their own investigations and then propose changes that could be made to improve workplace safety.
Most employees are entitled to receive workers’ compensation if they have been injured in a work-related accident. An injured worker might also file a personal injury lawsuit against a negligent third party that was involved in the accident. While an employee is recovering from a workplace injury, an attorney may be able to help them to pursue the maximum financial compensation.