As of January 1, 2015, many employers who were previously exempt from the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) requirements of tracking work-related injuries, will now have to prepare and maintain records of occupational injuries and illnesses using OSHA 300, 301, and 300A forms. If you have more than 10 employees, you may be one of those employers who has never had to worry about this before but will have to start this recordkeeping at the beginning of the new year.

Any employer of any size must report all work-related fatalities to OSHA within 8 hours. Under the new rule, all employers are also now required to report all work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye within 24 hours to OSHA.

Those extreme situations are the only reporting requirements if you employ 10 or fewer people because you don’t have to worry about keeping injury logs for OSHA. Even if you have more than 10 employees, you do not have to keep the OSHA logs if you are in a “low-hazard industry.” But the definitions of “low-hazard industries” have changed, and that’s why you may have new reporting OSHA recordkeeping requirements.

Because OSHA has revised the regulation and is now using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) instead of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) to determine which industries fall into the low-hazard category, hundreds of thousands of employers will now be required to keep records that never had to before. It is important that you determine what the NAICS code is for your type of business so that you can tell how you will be affected by this revised rule, if at all.

Some of the business industries that will now have to keep OSHA 300 logs and post their injury records for employees to view include bakeries; automobile dealers; automotive parts, accessories, and tire stores; building material and supplies dealers; specialty food stores; beer, wine, and liquor stores; commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing; performing arts companies; museums, historical sites and similar institutions; amusement and recreation industries; and some other personal services industries.

Some businesses that will still be defined as “low hazard” and will not have to keep OSHA records are law offices, insurance brokers, accounting firms, architectural and engineering firms, advertising agencies, schools, doctor and dentist offices, day care facilities, electronic and computer servicing companies, and religious organizations.

For more information and to discover if your industry now has to keep the OSHA records, go to https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping. Here you can find links to a complete list of all of the business industries that are required to keep injury records, as well as a list of the exempt business industries.

You should also remain careful about terminating any employee who has reported an injury or workplace illness. OSHA prohibits employers from retaliating or discriminating against any employee who has suffered an on-the-job injury.