AB 1805: Changes to Cal/OSHA’s Injury/Illnesses or Fatality Reporting Requirements

Current Cal/OSHA regulations, CCR T8 §342(a), require that “every employer shall report immediately by telephone or telegraph to the nearest District Office of the Division of Occupational Safety & Health any serious injury or illness, or death of an employee occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment. Immediate means as soon as practically possible but not longer than 8 hours after the employer knows or with diligent inquiry would have known of the serious injury or illness. If the employer can demonstrate that exigent circumstances exist, the time frame for the report may be made no longer than 24 hours after the incident.”

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According to CCR, T8 §330(h) serious injury or illness is defined as “any injury or illness occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment which requires inpatient hospitalization for a period in excess of 24 hours for other than medical observation or in which an employee suffers a loss of any member of the body or any serious degree of permanent disfigurement, but does not include any injury or illness or death caused by the commission of a Penal Code violation, except the violation of Section 385 of the Penal Code, or an accident on a public street or highway.”

Effective January 1st, 2020, AB 1805 will introduce five changes to what qualifies as a “serious injury or illness”:

1. The 24-hour minimum requirement for qualifying hospitalizations will be removed, excluding hospitalizations for medical observation or diagnostic testing. Meaning any injury or illness that leads to any period of inpatient hospitalization for something other than medical observation or diagnostic testing will have to be reported to Cal/OSHA.
2. The terminology “loss of any member of the body” will be replaced by “amputation.” For example, if the tip of a finger is cut off, even without any bone loss, it is considered an amputation and must be reported.
3. It is explicitly stated that loss of an eye is a qualifying injury and must be reported.
4. The exclusion of “injury or illness or death caused by the commission of a Penal Code violation” will be eliminated; therefore, these types of injuries will have to be reported.
5. The exclusion of “an accident on a public street or highway” will be amended to include injuries, illnesses, or death occurring in a construction zone. Meaning that if an injury occurs on a public street or highway, but is in a construction zone, it is no longer excluded from reporting requirements.

Once a serious injury/illness or fatality occurs, an employer has 8 hours to report it to Cal/OSHA beginning from the time that the employer knows or with diligent inquiry would have known of the serious injury/illness or death. Therefore, it is important for supervisors to be aware of these changes and to keep following up on injured employees to know if at any point they will need to report the injury or illness to Cal/OSHA. Not reporting a qualifying injury/illness or death will result in a minimum fine of $5,000.

In order to prevent injuries/illnesses and fatalities at your facility, it is important for your company to have a comprehensive safety program and ensure that employees are trained on safe work practices. Alta-NV5 provides services for safety auditing and developing Injury and Illness Prevention Programs (IIPP) for companies in a wide range of industries. For more information, email us at info@altaenviron.com.