South Carolina lawmakers ratify OSHA requirements

On June 26, 2015 the South Carolina General Assembly ratified the new OSHA reporting and recordkeeping requirements for SC employers.

As a practical matter, this mainly means SC employers must now report the hospitalization of an employee as well as all partial amputations (including fingertip amputations without bone loss) within 24 hours. Employers must report fatalities within eight hours.

For reports of a single hospitalization or partial amputation, SC OSHA will send the employer a questionnaire to complete and return within five business days. In most cases, if the form is returned in a timely manner, no inspection will take place, at least not immediately. Immediate inspections can be expected if the questionnaire is not returned on time (or if a fatality is reported).

North Carolina and Georgia employers have been subject to the new OSHA reporting and recordkeeping requirements since Jan. 1, 2015. For more information on these requirements, visit our December 2014 Update – OSHA’s Expanded Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements.