Guest post from the OSHA Law Update blog, by our colleague Valerie Butera, at Epstein Becker Green.

Retailers, get ready for OSHA’s revised recordkeeping and reporting rules, effective January 1, 2015.

As I note in my Act Now Advisory—“What Do OSHA’s Revised Recordkeeping and Reporting Rules Really Mean for Retailers?”—several additional retail industries will be required to keep records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses, and several are no longer subject to the rules. The new reporting requirements apply to all retailers, even those included in the exempt list.

See the advisory for more information—below is an excerpt of my tips for retail employers:

• Train your safety and human resource professionals and your managers on the new reporting requirements.  Again, all retailers must promptly report to OSHA any fatalities, amputations, loss of eye incidents, or in-patient hospitalizations.
• Be aware that you can report to OSHA by:
  1. Calling OSHA’s free and confidential number: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742)
  2. Calling your closest Area Office during normal business hours
  3. Using the new online form that will soon be available on OSHA’s website
• If you have retail establishments in one or more of the jurisdictions with a state plan, contact the state plan’s office to determine when you must comply with the rule and if the state plans’ reporting rules have additional requirements.  OSHA has encouraged state plans to require compliance by January 1 but recognizes that not all plans will be able to do so.
• Contact counsel for advice on how to best navigate an OSHA inspection to ensure your preparedness should OSHA decide to investigate the circumstances leading to a reportable injury or illness.
• To the extent that any of these newly reportable incidents have taken place at any of your retail establishments in the past, review the details of the incident and audit that facility and others that you believe may pose safety concerns.  Identify safety hazards and address any possible health or safety hazards that you discover.
• If you are among the newly identified retail industries required to complete OSHA’s injury and illness recordkeeping, seek assistance from counsel in navigating these very complex requirements.  Ensure that safety and human resource professionals in your organization are properly trained and fully understand how and when to record an occupational illness or injury in your OSHA logs.
• Retailers that have already been subject to the recordkeeping standard should review their logs to spot potential trouble spots, and provide refresher training to safety and human resource professionals in order to help ensure full compliance with the rules.