Virginia Occupational Injury Reporting Notice Updated

All Virginia employers are required to post the official Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Job Safety and Health Protection notice to inform employees of their rights and responsibilities concerning health and safety in the workplace. The Job Safety and Health Protection notice has been revised to reflect current illness and injury reporting requirements under Virginia law.

Presently, VOSH standards require all injuries or illnesses that result in an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye to be reported to VOSH within eight (8) hours. This new standard is more restrictive than the previous VOSH reporting requirements. It is also more restrictive than federal OSHA reporting standards. Federal OSHA requires in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye to be reported within 24 hours. Both VOSH and OSHA have an 8 hour reporting period for fatalities.

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) has explained that the discrepancy between the VOSH and OSHA reporting requirements is due to a legislative drafting error. In revising the statute, DOLI intended Virginia’s reporting requirements to be identical to OSHA’s. DOLI is seeking to amend the reporting statute to bring Virginia law into conformity with federal OSHA regulations. Meanwhile, employers MUST post the current Virginia Job Safety and Health Protection notice. Employers should anticipate the conforming Virginia Job Safety and Health Protection posting to be released later this year. This will also be a mandatory update. For more information about reporting requirements under the current regulations read the Virginia Interim Enforcement Policy for New Reporting Requirements.