Winter Weather Driving Tips from AAA

Severe weather can be both frightening and dangerous for automobile travel. Motorists should know the safety rules for dealing with winter road emergencies. AAA reminds motorists to be cautious while driving in adverse weather. For more information on winter driving, the association offers theHow to Go on Ice and Snow brochure, available through most AAA offices. Contact your local AAA club for more information.

AAA recommends the following winter driving tips:

• Avoid driving while you’re fatigued. Getting the proper amount of rest before taking on winter weather tasks reduces driving risks.
• Never warm up a vehicle in an enclosed area, such as a garage.
• Make certain your tires are properly inflated.
• Never mix radial tires with other tire types.
• Keep your gas tank at least half full to avoid gas line freeze-up.
• If possible, avoid using your parking brake in cold, rainy and snowy weather.
• Do not use cruise control when driving on any slippery surface (wet, ice, sand).
• Always look and steer where you want to go.
• Use your seat belt every time you get into your vehicle.

Tips for long-distance winter trips:

• Watch weather reports prior to a long-distance drive or before driving in isolated areas. Delay trips when especially bad weather is expected. If you must leave, let others know your route, destination and estimated time of arrival.
• Always make sure your vehicle is in peak operating condition by having it inspected by a AAA Approved Auto Repair facility.
• Keep at least half a tank of gasoline in your vehicle at all times.
• Pack a cellular telephone with your local AAA’s telephone number, plus blankets, gloves, hats, food, water and any needed medication in your vehicle.
• If you become snow-bound, stay with your vehicle. It provides temporary shelter and makes it easier for rescuers to locate you. Don’t try to walk in a severe storm. It’s easy to lose sight of your vehicle in blowing snow and become lost.
• Don’t over exert yourself if you try to push or dig your vehicle out of the snow.
• Tie a brightly colored cloth to the antenna or place a cloth at the top of a rolled up window to signal distress. At night, keep the dome light on if possible. It only uses a small amount of electricity and will make it easier for rescuers to find you.
• Make sure the exhaust pipe isn’t clogged with snow, ice or mud. A blocked exhaust could cause deadly carbon monoxide gas to leak into the passenger compartment with the engine running.
• Use whatever is available to insulate your body from the cold. This could include floor mats, newspapers or paper maps.
• If possible run the engine and heater just long enough to remove the chill and to conserve gasoline.

Tips for driving in the snow:

• Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids. Don’t try to get moving in a hurry. And take time to slow down for a stoplight. Remember: It takes longer to slow down on icy roads.
• Drive slowly. Everything takes longer on snow-covered roads. Accelerating, stopping, turning – nothing happens as quickly as on dry pavement. Give yourself time to maneuver by driving slowly.
• The normal dry pavement following distance of three to four seconds should be increased to eight to ten seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide the longer distance needed if you have to stop.
• Know your brakes. Whether you have antilock brakes or not, the best way to stop is threshold breaking. Keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.
• Don’t stop if you can avoid it. There’s a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.
• Don’t power up hills. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads just starts your wheels spinning. Try to get a little inertia going before you reach the hill and let that inertia carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed down hill as slowly as possible.
• Don’t stop going up a hill. There’s nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some inertia going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.
• Stay home. If you really don’t have to go out, don’t. Even if you can drive well in the snow, not everyone else can. Don’t tempt fate: If you don’t have somewhere you have to be, watch the snow from indoors.

How to Fireproof your Christmas Tree

First, let us go through the materials you'll need to fireproof your tree.  You'll need the following materials: Karo syrup from the supermarket, Epsom salt from the drug store, a small can of "Boraxo" from the supermarket, liquid chlorine bleach from your laundry closet, and a small packet of chelated iron (it's pronounced KEY-lated) from the garden shop or plant store.  You'll also need a two-gallon bucket or pail.

Secondly, here are some hints for choosing the freshest tree.  Keep in mind that most trees are cut six to ten weeks before you see them in your neighborhood.  That's one problem, but the other is going to hamper  your choosing the right tree.  This happens because most Christmas trees today are "sprayed" with a green dye at the Christmas tree farm a week or two before they are cut and shipped to market.  This dye is sprayed on all trees, the good and the bad, making it difficult for the consumer to tell precisely which is a healthy tree and which is not.  However, it isn't a hopeless cause.

When you go shopping for your Christmas tree, find one that meets your standards for height, shape and fullness.  When you've narrowed your choice to a few trees, check to see that each is healthy.  Find a bad side of the tree, then try and snap a very small branch with your fingers.  Preferably, this should be at the bottom of the tree because this is the first place where water would be in short supply.  Try to snap the branch with your fingers; if it snaps easily, know right away that the tissue is dead, and the story is the same for the rest of the tree.  DON'T BUY THAT TREE!

However, if the branch doesn't snap easily, that's a good indication that the tissue is very much alive.  But don't stop there.  Snap the mall branch just the same, and then look at the woody tissue under the bark.

If the color is white or a pale green, then the tissue is alive, and the tree healthy.  If the wood looks to be brown or close to it, that means the tissue is in the process of dying, in which case you do not buy that tree!  No matter what, ALWAYS BUY A TREE THAT HAS LIVE TISSUE, either white or pale green.  This means that the homemade preservative that you're about to make will make it fireproof!

Now that you've purchased your tree, let's show you how to fireproof it!

1.  Once you get home, get a saw and IMMEDIATELY make a fresh cut at the base of the tree trunk.  This is MANDATORY for any tree you've bought.  Go down about an inch ABOVE the bottom of the trunk and make a fresh cut there with your saw.  Try to make a level cut when you do.

2.  Next, let's consider a place for storing your tree because, ideally, YOU SHOULD BE BUYING YOUR TREE AT LEAST 10 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS.  If it's longer that that, fine, but don't buy it at the last minute and expect to have it fireproofed before it goes into the house.  Storage should not be a problem as long as the tree is protected from the wind.  An ideal place would be the garage, a carport, possibly a balcony for apartment dwellers.  The last resort would be a basement, hopefully a cool one.

3.  Immediately after making your cut at the bottom of the tree trunk, mix your homemade preservative.

Into the two-gallon bucket, add HOT WATER from the kitchen faucet. Fill the bucket with hot water to within an inch or so of the top of the bucket.  Then, into the hot water, add the following ingredients:

...two cups of Karo syrup

...two ounces of liquid chlorine bleach

...two pinches of Epsom salt

...one-half teaspoon of Boraxo

...one teaspoon of chelated iron

Stir these ingredients thoroughly in the bucket, then IMMEDIATELY stand the trunk of the tree in this solution.  Leave the tree in the bucket until the day comes when you want to take the tree indoors for decoration.

4.  When the tree goes indoors, stand the trunk in the tree stand and decorate it as you always do, then move the tree into its final resting place in the house.  THEN, GET THE BUCKET FILLED WITH YOUR INGREDIENTS, HAVE A PLASTIC CUP HANDY, DRAW OFF THE MIXTURE FROM THE

BUCKET AND FILL THE WELL OF THE TREE STAND RIGHT UP TO THE TOP.

5.  Here, assign some responsibility for what happens after that. Someone in the family must see to it that, EVERY DAY WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THE WELL OF THE TREE STAND MUST BE KEPT FILLED WITH THE SOLUTION IN YOUR TWO-GALLON BUCKET.

A hint: in the morning when you get up, FILL THE WELL OF THE TREE STAND WITH FLUID RIGHT UP TO THE TOP.  When you retire for the evening AGAIN FILL THE WELL OF THE TREE STAND.  The well must be kept filled so the solution is always readily available to your Christmas tree, and then IT IS FIREPROOFED.

How can the tree be fireproofed this way?  Actually, it's very easy and let's explain why...

The Karo syrup provides the SUGAR, and it is only in the presence of sugar that tremendous amounts of water will be taken up by the exposed tissue at the base of the tree trunk.  Without the sugar, only the smallest bit of water will be absorbed.  However, in the presence of the sugar, you can expect more than one and one-half gallons of the water to be absorbed by the tree during the 10 to 14-day period that the tree is exposed to your homemade preservative.

But there is more.  Thanks to the boron you have supplied (in the Boraxo), the water and sugar will be moved to every needle and branch of your tree.  Remember that boron is what makes sugar move, not only in trees, but vegetables, fruits and even house plants.

Then, there's the Epsom salt and the chelated iron.  Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, and magnesium (together with iron) are the center molecules in the process we know as chlorophyll production. By making

the magnesium and iron available to the tree, you're assuring yourself of green needles, even if the tree was not sprayed at the tree farm before it was shipped to market.

Oh yes, why the liquid chlorine bleach?  Chlorine stops a mold from forming when water and sugar stand for any period of time.  Here, the chlorine stops the mold from forming in the bucket and the material added to the well of your tree stand.

Finally, what are the benefits from preserving your tree this way?

1.  Your tree will be SOAKING WET with water, in fact, at least 800 percent more water that when the tree was growing in the forest.

2.  The tree will NOT become a fire hazard in your house because it is soaking wet, almost like a sponge.

3.  No needles will drop, no matter what variety of evergreen you are displaying in your house.  At the same time, the tree will give off a fragrance like that which you've sensed when walking through a

forest of evergreens.

4.  Finally, make the test.  When the holidays are over and the tree is taken down in the house, move the tree outdoors and cut one of  the branches.  Then, move away from the tree, light a match, and see

if the branch will burn.  IT WON'T...guaranteed!

5.  Also, if you have an outdoor garden of any size, be ecology conscious.  Cut the branches from the tree, then scatter the branches over the mulch previously applied to your roses, tulip and bulb garden, atop the mulch over your flower bed.  A thick layer of these evergreen boughs is added protection for your plants over the winter.

Then, cut up the tree trunk into small sections and add it to the trash can.

So, fireproof your live evergreen this Christmas and enjoy a Safe and Happy Holiday!

Holiday Decorating Safety Tips

Trees

Many artificial trees are fire resistant. If you buy one, look for a statement specifying this protection.
A fresh tree will stay green longer and be less of a fire hazard than a dry tree. To check for freshness,
remember:

• A fresh tree is green.
• Fresh needles are hard to pull from branches.
• When bent between your fingers, fresh needles do not break.
• The trunk butt of a fresh tree is sticky with resin.
• When the trunk of a tree is bounced on the ground, a shower of falling needles shows that tree is too dry.

Place tree away from fireplaces, radiators and other heat sources. Heated rooms dry trees out rapidly, creating fire hazards.


Cut off about two inches of the trunk to expose fresh wood for better water absorption.

Trim away branches as necessary to set tree trunk in the base of a sturdy, water-holding stand with wide spread feet.

Keep the stand filled with water while the tree is indoors.

Place the tree out of the way of traffic and do not block doorways.

Use thin guy-wires to secure a large tree to walls or ceiling. These wires are almost invisible.

“Snow”

Artificial snow sprays can irritate lungs if inhaled. To avoid injury, read container labels; follow directions carefully.

Lights

Indoors or outside, use only lights that have been tested for safety. Identify these by the label from an independent testing laboratory.

Check each set of lights, new or old, for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections. Discard damaged sets or repair them before using.

Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, house, walls or other firm support to protect from wind damage.

Use no more than three standard-size sets of lights per single extension cord.

Turn off all lights on trees and other decorations when you go to bed or leave the house. Lights could short and start a fire.

Never use electric lights on a metallic tree.  The tree can become charged with electricity from faulty lights, and any person touching a branch could be electrocuted! To avoid this danger, use colored spotlights above or beside a tree, never fastened onto it!

Keep “bubbling” lights away from children. These lights with their bright colors and bubbling movement can tempt curious children to break candle-shaped glass, which can cut, and attempt to drink liquid, which contains a hazardous chemical.

Candles

Never use lighted candles on a tree or near other evergreens.

Always use non-flammable holders.

Keep candles away from other decorations and wrapping paper.

Place candles where they cannot be knocked down or blown over.

Trimmings

Use only non-combustible or flame-resistant materials.

Wear gloves while decorating with spun glass “angel hair” to avoid irritation to eyes and skin.

Choose tinsel or artificial icicles or plastic or non-leaded metals.  Leaded materials are hazardous if ingested by children.

In homes with small children, take special care to:

• Avoid decorations that are sharp or breakable.
• Keep trimmings with small removable parts out of the reach of children. Pieces could be swallowed or inhaled.
• Avoid trimmings that resemble candy or food. A child could eat them!

Fires

Before lighting any fire, remove all greens, boughs, papers, and other decorations from fireplace area. Check to see that flue is open.  Keep a screen before the fireplace all the time a fire is burning.

Use care with “fire salts” which produce colored flames when thrown on wood fires. They contain heavy metals which can cause intense gastrointestinal irritation or vomiting if eaten. Keep away from children.

Paper

When making paper decorations, look for materials labeled non-combustible or flame-resistant.

Never place trimming near open flames or electrical connections.  Remove all wrapping papers 

from tree and fireplace areas immediately after presents are opened. 

Do not burn papers in the fireplace. A flash fire may result as wrappings ignite suddenly and burn intensely. 

General Rules for Holiday Safety

• Keep matches, lighters, and candles out of the reach of children.
• Avoid smoking near flammable decorations.
• Make an emergency plan to use if a fire breaks out anywhere in the home. See that each family member knows what to do. PRACTICE THE PLAN!
• Avoid wearing loose flowing clothes—particularly long, open sleeves—near open flames - such as those of a fireplace, stove, or candlelit table.
• Never burn candles near evergreens. Burning evergreens in the fireplace can also be hazardous. When dry, greens burn like tinder. Flames can flare out of control, and send sparks flying into a room, or up the chimney to ignite creosote deposits.
• Plan for safety. Remember, there is no substitute for common sense. Look for and eliminate potential danger spots near candles, fireplaces, trees, and/or electrical connections. 

How to SAFELY Deep Fry a Turkey

DEEP-FRYING INDOORS

Using an electric fryer indoors is a great way to get that crispy texture and delicious flavor without having to brave the elements. Given the high temperatures and dangers, be sure to follow these simple instructions:

• Completely thaw your turkey, or use a fresh turkey.
• Take the wrapper off of the turkey, and remove and discard the neck and giblets.
• Add oil to the fryer, but do not exceed the maximum fill line. Preheat oil in the fryer to 400° F.
• While the oil is heating, pat the turkey dry with paper towels and prepare your turkey with any seasonings, marinades, or injected flavors.
• Once the oil is heated, slowly lower the turkey into the fryer. The turkey may not be totally immersed in the oil. This may cause the top part of the breast to remain white even though it is cooked to the proper end temperature.
• Set the timer and cook the turkey about 3 to 4 minutes per pound.
• Cook all dark meat to an internal temperature of 175° F to 180° F, and all white meat to an internal temperature of 165° F to 170° F.
• When the turkey is done, slowly lift it from the pot and place it in a pan or on paper towels to drain.
• Let the turkey stand for 20 minutes before removing it from the rack or basket to carve.

DEEP-FRYING OUTDOORS

Although you’re outdoors, using a propane deep fryer can be very dangerous. Never leave your deep fryer unattended and be sure to carefully follow these instructions:

• To start, take the wrapper off of the turkey, and remove and discard the neck and giblets.
• Deep-fry your turkey outside on a flat surface, far away from homes, garages, wooden decks, etc.
• To determine how much oil is needed for frying, place the thawed turkey in the fryer basket and place it in the fryer. Add water until the top of the turkey is barely covered. Remove the turkey, allowing the water to drain from the turkey back into the fryer. Measure and mark the water line, and use that line as a guide when adding oil to the propane fryer.
• Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
• Add oil to the fryer (based on the water line).
• Preheat oil in the fryer to 375° F.
• While the oil is heating, prepare your turkey with any seasonings, marinades, or injected flavor that you desire.
• When the oil is hot, turn the burner off and slowly lower the turkey into the hot oil. Slowly lowering the basket helps prevent the oil from bubbling over. Turn the burner back on.
• Cook the turkey about 3 to 4 minutes per pound.
• The turkey is done when the dark meat is at an internal temperature of 175° F to 180° F and all white meat is at an internal temperature of 165° F to 170° F.
• When the turkey is done, slowly lift it from the pot and place it in a pan or on paper towels to drain. Let the turkey stand for 20 minutes before removing it from the rack or basket.

DEEP FRYING TIPS

If your turkey is 14 lbs. or less, you can deep-fry it whole. If it’s 15 lbs. or more, separate the legs and thighs from the breast and fry them separately; or use a Butterball XL Turkey Fryer.

Be sure your turkey is completely thawed.

Remove any excess fat.

Do not stuff you turkey when deep-frying. Cook the stuffing separately.

To minimize sticking to the basket, submerge the empty basket in the hot oil for about 30 seconds; remove and place turkey inside and resubmerge.

NOTE

When cooking turkey parts, oil temperature should be 325° F; may take 4 to 5 minutes per pound to reach the recommended temperatures (dark meat to an internal temperature of 175° F to 180° F, and white meat to an internal temperature of 165° F to 170° F).

NOTE

There should be at least 3 to 5 inches from the fill line to the top of the pot so oil doesn’t boil over.

NOTE

When cooking turkey parts, oil temperature should be 325° F; may take 4 to 5 minutes per pound to reach the recommended temperatures (dark meat to an internal temperature of 175° F to 180° F, and white meat to an internal temperature of 165° F to 170° F).

Putting Ebola's risks into perspective

The diagnosis of the first Ebola patient on U.S. soil may have put people in a panic, fearing the exotic virus more than mundane germs – such as influenza – that pose a far greater threat to the average American.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa – the largest in the 40-year history of the virus – has infected 7,178 and killed 3,338, according to the World Health Organization.

"It's important to keep these things in perspective," says Lisa Maragakis, associate hospital epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

She compared Americans' fear of Ebola to the fear of flying. Though many people are afraid to fly, Maragakis points out that far more people are killed in cars.

•Influenza, which many people mistake for a "bad cold," claims up to 49,000 lives a year and sends more than 200,000 to the hospital, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Half of the more than 100 children who died from flu in the USA last year were healthy kids with nothing to suggest they were more vulnerable than other children.

•Measles, one of the most infectious diseases in the world, is far easier to catch than Ebola. If a person with measles comes in contact with 10 susceptible people — those who have never had measles or who are unvaccinated — nine of those people will come down with measles, says Julia Shaklee Sammons, medical director of infection prevention and control at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

On average, people with measles spread the disease to 12 to 18 other people, according to the Michigan Center for Public Health Preparedness. In contrast, people with Ebola in West Africa spread the disease to one to two others, according to the WHO.

Unlike Ebola, measles spreads through the air. The measles virus is so hardy that it can linger in the air for two hours after an infected person leaves the room – and still infect the next person to walk by, according to the WHO.

Measles is much stealthier than Ebola. People infected with measles can spread the virus for four days before breaking out in tell-tale red spots, according to the WHO.

Even with a mortality rate of 2% to 15% — far lower than the 70% mortality rate seen in the West African Ebola outbreak — measles kills 122,000 people around the world each year, Hotez says. Before vaccines, measles killed 2.2 million every year.

•Norovirus, the most common cause of both food-borne illness and stomach-related misery in the USA, can live on surfaces for days, so people can pick up the virus just from touching a door handle or a toy, Sammons says.

Norovirus – which causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps – afflicts up to 21 million Americans a year and kills up to 800, according to the CDC.

If Ebola spread that easily, there would be millions of cases, not thousands, Hotez says.

"In general, Ebola is not easy to get," Sammons says.

Unlike people with measles, patients infected with Ebola can spread the virus only after they begin to show symptoms, such as a fever, Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said at a news conference Tuesday. Ebola can't spread through the air. It can spread only through direct contact with bodily fluids, primarily blood, Sammons says.

Chances are, anyone exposed to Ebola is going to know about it, Sammons says. That gives them time to seek medical help and isolate themselves to prevent them from spreading the virus.

Ebola could be far less lethal in a developed country that has access to modern intensive care and basic measures, such as keeping patients hydrated and maintaining a steady blood pressure.

One reason Ebola has spread so widely in Africa – in spite of all of these obstacles – is that the countries most affected are extremely poor. Many people lack running water and soap in their homes. So do many hospitals, according to the CDC.

If one family member comes down with Ebola, there's a good chance that others in the home will become infected, especially if patients bleed and vomit profusely. Families without modern toilets and washing machines have trouble cleaning up after patients who lose control of their bowels and produce huge amounts of diarrhea.

Even burying the dead can spread Ebola in these countries, because common burial rites involve washing the dead and preparing the bodies.

-USA Today

November is National Diabetes Month

More than 29 million Americans have diabetes, and about 86 million more are on the verge of the disease. People with diabetes are nearly two times more likely than people without diabetes to die from heart disease, and are also at greater risk for kidney, eye and nerve diseases, among other painful and costly complications.

This year, in observance of National Diabetes Month, including World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14, The National Institutes of Health asks people to take to heart the lessons learned from our research. Type 2 diabetes can be delayed or prevented, and both types 1 and 2 diabetes can be managed to prevent complications.

In type 1 diabetes, the body does not make insulin. In type 2 diabetes — the most common type, which has increased along with the obesity epidemic — the body does not make or use insulin well. A third type, gestational diabetes, occurs in some women during pregnancy. Though it usually goes away after the birth, these women and their children have a greater chance of getting type 2 diabetes later in life.

As the number of people living with type 2 diabetes grows — and the disease has begun to affect young people — identifying safe and effective treatments is key to improving the health of people with diabetes and its complications and those at high risk for the disease.

Research has shown that losing a modest amount of weight — about 15 pounds — through diet and exercise can actually cut your risk of getting type 2 diabetes by as much as 58 percent in people at high risk.

For the approximately 1.5 million children and adults with type 1 diabetes, studies have already found that tight control of blood sugar can prevent diabetes complications. Now researchers are at work to identify genetic and environmental causes of the disease, to create and sustain islet cells to produce insulin, and to advance technology to make the daily lives of people with type 1 diabetes safer, healthier and easier.

There are steps we can take now to protect our health and the health of the people we love. Choose healthy foods to share. Take a brisk walk together every day. Talk with your family about your health and your family’s risk of diabetes and heart disease. If you smoke, seek help to quit. The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) can help you make positive, lasting changes to improve your health.

This National Diabetes Month, make changes to reduce your risk for diabetes and its complications — for yourself, your families and for future generations.

OSHA announces significant alterations to reporting requirements

On September 11, 2014, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a final rule that significantly changes an employer’s duties to report workplace injuries to the agency.

The current rule, codified at 29 C.F.R. §1904.39, only requires employers to report to OSHA workplace-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three-or-more employees.

Employers have an eight-hour deadline from the time of the incident to make the report to the nearest OSHA area office or to its toll-free hotline.

The revised rule, which goes into effect on January 1, 2015, significantly alters an employer’s reporting requirements:

In-patient hospitalization of one-or-more employees as a result of a work-related incident must be reported to OSHA within 24 hours. (The current rule requires reporting hospitalization of three-or-more employees within 8 hours.)
Amputations and the loss of an eye as a result of a work-related incident must now be reported to OSHA within 24 hours. (This is a new provision.)
Motor vehicle accidents occurring in construction work zones on public streets or highways resulting in a fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must be reported to OSHA. (This is a new provision.)
porting can be made either to the nearest OSHA Area Office, OSHA’s toll-free number, or on OSHA’s web site. (The current rule does not have provisions for online reporting.) If the in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss occurs more than 24 hours beyond the work-related incident, it does not have to be reported to OSHA, but still must be recorded on OSHA injury and illness logs. (This is a new provision.)
If an employer doesn’t learn of an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or eye loss “at the time it takes place,” the employer must report it to OSHA within 24 hours of when the in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss is reported to the employer or any agent of the employer. (This is a new provision.)
If an employer “does not learn right away” that a reportable incident was the result of a work-related incident, as soon as employer or any agent of the employer learns the reportable incident—8 hours from the time of learning for fatalities, 24 hours for in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss—the employer must make the report to OSHA. (This is a new provision.)
The Eight-Hour Workplace Fatality Reporting Rule

The only provision under the current rule that is not changing is an employer’s obligation to report workplace fatalities to OSHA within eight hours. OSHA is, however, amending the rule to take into account those situations in which the employer does not immediately learn of the fatality.

In-Patient Hospitalizations of One-or-More Employees

During the notice-and-comment period in 2011, many employers objected to OSHA’s proposal to lower the reporting threshold on hospitalizations from three-or-more employees to one-or-more employees. Many noted that an employee’s hospitalization does not always represent a serious injury or illness, and many occur due to non-work-related events. Others pointed to the rise of “defensive medicine”—the practice of physicians and health care professionals of ordering often-unnecessary tests, procedures, or visits primarily to reduce exposure to malpractice liability. OSHA acknowledged this concern to some extent by including provisions to clarify when the reporting clock starts to run. Several public commenters objected to reporting amputations, noting that OSHA’s proposed rule failed to precisely define “amputation” (If an employee slices off the tip of a finger, but does not suffer bone loss, does the incident constitute an amputation?) Many commenters also complained that OSHA ignored small businesses and failed to convene a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 1996 panel.

“In-Patient Hospitalization” and “Amputation” Defined

In response to some of the criticisms of the proposed rule, OSHA’s final rule includes definitions of two key terms and phrases:

“In-patient hospitalization”: OSHA defines as a “formal admission to the in-patient service of a hospital or clinic for care or treatment.” The definition expressly excludes “observation or diagnostic testing.”
“Amputation”: OSHA defines as a “traumatic loss of a limb or other external body part.” Amputations include “a part, such as a limb or appendage, that has been severed, cut off, amputated (either completely or partially); fingertip amputations with or without bone loss; medical amputations resulting from irreparable damage; [and] amputations of body parts that have since been reattached. Amputations do not include avulsions, enucleations, deglovings, scalpings, severed ears, or broken or chipped teeth.”
In response to near-universal support,   the agency will permit employers to report these incidents via OSHA’s web site. The online report will include mandatory fields for required information. If the report does not include the required information in the mandatory fields, the reporting application will not accept the report. The agency does not say, however, whether the online report will provide the employer with a verification number, email, time stamp, or any other means to allow the employer to keep a record of the report’s submission.

State Plan States

OSHA expects State Plan states, those states with their own state-run occupational safety and health agencies, to adopt these revisions and fully implement them within six months, with posting or submission of documentation within 60 days of adoption. This won’t be too much of a problem for a handful of states. California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Utah, and Kentucky already require reporting of single in-patient hospitalizations. California and Kentucky also already require the reporting of work-related amputations.

North American Industry Classification System

The rule also formally updates 29 C.F.R. §1904.2 and codifies OSHA’s switch from the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to the more modern and detailed North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). NAICS was first adopted by the federal government in 1997, and OSHA has informally used NAICS to classify inspections for years. The new rule formally adopts NAICS and makes the SIC system obsolete, at least as it pertains to OSHA.

Exempt Industries

The rule also updated Appendix A to Part 1904, Subpart B, which is OSHA’s list of partially-exempt industries. Industries on Appendix A are not required to keep OSHA 300, 300A, or 301 recordkeeping logs, unless they are asked in writing to do so by OSHA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), or any state-agency-equivalent of these federal agencies. The update requires certain industries to now keep OSHA recordkeeping logs. The affected industries include new and used car dealers; hardware stores; residential and non-residential building lessors and property managers; marketing research firms; facilities support services; blood and organ banks; convention and trade show organizers; beer, wine, and liquor stores; services for the elderly and persons with disabilities; food service contractors; caterers; theater and performing arts companies; and bowling alleys, among others.

On the other hand, the rule now partially exempts other industries, such as pension funds; labor unions; collection agencies;; newspaper, periodical, and book publishers; television and radio stations; wireless telecommunication carriers (except satellite carriers); and motorcycle, ATV, personal watercraft, and boat dealers, among others. These industries, OSHA explains, had low injury and illness rates based on 2007-2009 injury/illness data. One industry that qualifies for the partial exemption but won’t be receiving it is employment services (NAICS 5613), which includes employment placement agencies and temporary help services. In spite of their low injury rates, OSHA expressed concern that temporary employees’ “actual place of work may be in an establishment that is part of a different, possibly higher-hazard industry,” and therefore took away the partial exemption that the industry otherwise deserved. All partially exempt industries, however, still must report any employee’s fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.

Key Takeaways

The purpose of the new reporting requirements is obvious: OSHA intends to increase inspections of employee hospitalizations, amputations, and eye loss. OSHA routinely investigates these matters when it discovers them, either through employee or third-party reports to the agency or news reports of accidents. In the final rule, OSHA claims that “it does not intend to inspect” every employer reporting one of these events. But the agency’s aggressive enforcement history belies this meek denial. OSHA rarely fails to investigate a fatality or catastrophe (hospitalization of three-or-more employees) reported under the current rule. To the contrary, the U.S. Department of Labor’s own regulations mandate that OSHA must investigate “each accident which results in a fatality or the hospitalization of three or more employees.”

Any employer required to submit a report of an accident to OSHA should expect an OSHA inspection or at least some contact from OSHA. Even for instances that may not be work-related (such as if an employee suffers a heart attack at work or develops food poisoning due to something he or she ate at lunch), employers can anticipate that OSHA will check the veracity of the employer’s report, which may entail the now-standard agency request for the employer’s OSHA 300 and 300A logs for the past three to five years. The new rule will no doubt keep OSHA busy. Under the current rule, OSHA receives approximately 750 to 1,100 fatality and catastrophe reports each year. The new rule will increase this number to anywhere from 150,000 to 275,000 reports per year. This, of course, provides the agency a perfect opportunity to request from Congress a significant increase in the agency’s enforcement budget to thoroughly investigate all such reports.