Author, Daniel Frazee, Executive Vice President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
A new California law, Assembly Bill 1805 (AB 1805), changes when employers are required to report serious workplace injuries to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The law now broadens the scope of what will be classified as a serious illness, injury or exposure. Many believe this change will increase the number of workplace accidents that will have to be reported in 2020.
The definition of “serious injury or illness” has, for many years, been defined as an injury or illness that requires inpatient hospitalization for more than 24 hours of treatment, or if any employee suffers a “loss of member” or serious disfigurement. The definition has excluded hospitalizations for medical observation. Regulations also excluded from reporting requirements any serious injury caused by a criminal assault and battery or a vehicle accident on a public road or highway.
AB 1805 aligns California’s rules more closely with Federal OSHA regulations for reporting. More specifically:
Rules
The following will need to be reported to Cal/OSHA:
Any inpatient hospitalization (even less than 24 hours),
An inpatient hospitalization is required for something “other than medical observation or diagnostic testing,”
Employers must report any “amputation” (even if the tip of a finger is cut off) to Cal/OSHA. This replaces the terminology “loss of member;”
The loss of an eye,
Serious injuries or deaths caused by a criminal assault and battery,
The exclusion for injuries from auto accidents on a public street or highway remains in effect. However, accidents that occur in a construction zone must now be reported.
Compliance (related directly to serious injuries and illnesses or fatalities)
In order to say in compliance:
The report must be made within 8 hours of the employer knowing, or with “diligent inquiry” should have known, about the serious injury/illness.
The report must be made by PHONE to the nearest Cal/OSHA district office.
For more details on how these changes may impact your company’s IIPP, please contact me at (619) 937-0172.