OSHA Releases Seven-Year Lookback on Severe Injuries

December 14, 2023

OSHA has comprehensive injury report

  • OSHA released its Seven-Year Lookback Report on its Severe Injury Reporting program, which requires employers to report all severe work-related injuries, defined as an amputation, in-patient hospitalization, or loss of an eye. The requirement began on Jan. 1, 2015.
  • Since reporting began, OSHA received a total of 70,206 severe injury reports from employers under federal OSHA in all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
  • OSHA received 56,696 inpatient hospitalization SIRs and 18,559 amputation SIRs from 2015 to 2021. Many amputations are so severe they require inpatient hospitalization; a total of 5,049 reported amputations also required inpatient hospitalization.
  • From 2015 to 2018 the average number of SIRs reported per day increased from 27 to 31. The COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to the 20% decrease from 2019 to 2020 due to shutdowns or changes to employment status for millions of workers.
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Michigan focuses on protections for the cannabis industry

  • Michigan OSHA launched an emphasis program that covers the growing, harvesting, and processing of the plant.
  • Since Michigan legalized cannabis for recreational use in 2018, the state’s cannabis industry has grown to more than 1,000 dispensaries, over 1,000 growers, and 228 processors.
  • MIOSH found that these settings have the highest occurrence of occupational safety and health hazards.
  • The agency now offers free resources, fact sheets and educational video sessions co-hosted by the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency – the regulatory program overseeing adult-use marijuana establishments and licensees.
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Meat-packing plant fines

  • A meat packing plant in Ontario was fined $170,000 after pleading guilty to a safety violation that led to a worker being critically injured in 2022.
  • Maple Leaf Foods Inc. pleaded guilty in Brantford provincial offenses court for a violation of a section of the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to ensure a worker was protected while conducting maintenance.
  • An apprentice millwright, hired by a third-party company, was sent into Maple Foods’ processing plant on Canning Street to probe a pair of malfunctioning freezer fans.
  • After noticing an opening in the guard over one of the fans, the worker stuck his hand in to turn the fan blades and free them of any possible obstruction, leaving him critically injured.
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OSHA makes change to safety helmets

  • OSHA is replacing traditional hard hats used by its employees with more modern safety helmets to protect them better when they are on inspection sites.
  • In 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported head injuries accounted for nearly 6 percent of non-fatal occupational injuries involving days away from work.
  • Almost half of those injuries occurred when workers came in contact with an object or equipment while about 20 percent were caused by slips, trips, and falls.
  • OSHA published a Safety and Health Information Bulletin detailing key differences between traditional hard hats and more modern safety helmets and the advancements in design, materials and other features that help protect workers’ entire heads better.
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