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Don’t Forget About OSHA Reporting Rules The Texas cotton Ginners’ Association has received several calls this year with questions about two Occupational Safety and Health Administration reporting rules. Here is a quick recap of how each rule works. First, there is the illness and injury reporting rule. Here are the basic situations you are required to report to OSHA: 1. Any fatality. Report within eight hours. 2. Any in-patient hospitalization. Report within 24 hours. 3. Any amputation. Report within 24 hours. 4. Any eye loss. Report within 24 hours. The first and fourth requirements are pretty straightforward, but the other two can be a little tricky. An in-patient hospitalization is one where the employee is admitted overnight for treatment. If they are treated and released in one day or if they are admitted overnight for observation but not treated, the injury is not reportable. Be sure to call your association office if you have questions about an individual incident. Amputations can also be tricky. Even the loss of a fingertip, if it is coded as an amputation by the treatment provider, would be reportable. This is one aspect of the rule that you must watch carefully. How do you report? You can call your local OSHA office, the OSHA 24-hour hotline (800-321-6742) or use their online reporting system. For more information on the Illness and Injury reporting rule, go to the OSHA reporting page at https://www. osha.gov/report.html.
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Enter OSHA 300A Data Online The second rule involves the electronic submittal of the OSHA 300A data. This rule has been in effect for some time, and any gin that had 20 or more employees at any point during the year is required to report. Basically, you have to enter the information from your OSHA 300A form into the OSHA online information portal. To access the portal and learn more about it, go to https://www.osha. gov/injuryreporting/index.html. The portal opens each year Jan. 1 and closes March 2. You must enter your data during this time period. Since your OSHA 300A form has to be completed and posted in your office on Feb. 1 each year, it is a good idea to go ahead and key your information into the online portal as soon as you finish your OSHA 300A. That should give you plenty of time to enter the data before the online portal closes. There is one portion of the 300A that gives some folks difficulty. When you calculate your average number of employees and the total hours worked by all employees, be sure to do this correctly. OSHA’s method of making this calculation is not the same as what many would do on their own. There is a worksheet included in the OSHA 300 and 300A instructions that will help you make the calculation correctly. It is important to get this number right. If it is wrong, then
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COTTON FARMING | DECEMBER 2019
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