The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its review of OSHA's injury and illness recordkeeping rule, which would change the types of injury and illness events that must be reported to the agency by telephone or in person.

Now that the OMB has completed its review, the rule is expected to be published soon in the Federal Register.

The "Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements - NAICS Update and Reporting Revisions" final rule would require reporting to OSHA within eight hours the work-related in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees. Currently, the rule requires employers to report the hospitalization of three or more employees. ("In-patient hospitalization" is defined as "formal admission" into a hospital or clinic for an overnight stay.) The final rule will also add a new requirement to report any work-related amputations to OSHA within 24 hours.

Additionally, the rulemaking updates Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 1904. The appendix contains a list of industries that are partially exempt from the requirements to maintain a log of occupational injuries and illnesses, generally due to their low rates of occupations injuries and illnesses. The current list of industries is based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The updated rule would revise Appendix A by replacing it with a list of industries based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and based on more recent occupational injury and illness rates.