OSHA issued a final rule, effective Jan. 1, 2015, updating the appendix of industries that, because they have relatively low occupational injury and illness rates, are partially exempt from reporting requirements. Aircraft technician, maintenance and hangar operations (which are currently not exempted) remain absent from the revised exemption list.

The updated appendix is based on more recent data from industries listed by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), while the current appendix lists industries classified by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). Reporting requirements were also revised. The current regulation requires employers to report work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees within eight hours of the event. The new regulation requires employers to report all work-related in-patient hospitalizations, as well as amputations and loss of an eye, to OSHA within 24 hours of the event.

These final rules are based on a June 2011 NPRM. Of the 125 comments received, OSHA said that its decision to convert the listing of partially exempt employers to NAICS from SIC “drew widespread support.”