An Act To Revise the Standards for Reporting Public Sector Workplace Deaths and Serious Injuries
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1544
Committee: Labor
Sponsors: EDMONDS, DUPLESSIE, JACKSON, TREADWELL
Amends: 26 MRSA §2

Legislative Document 
No. 1544 
S.P.519 
In Senate, April 10, 2003 
An Act To Revise the Standards for Reporting Public Sector 
Workplace Deaths and Serious Injuries 
Submitted by the Department of Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Labor suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator EDMONDS of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Representative DUPLESSIE of Westbrook and 
Representatives: JACKSON of Fort Kent, TREADWELL of Carmel. 
Printed on recycled paper 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §2, as corrected by RR 1995, c. 2, §57, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
§2. Reports of deaths and iDjuries 
1. 
Reports 
of deaths. 
The 
person 
in 
charge 
of 
any 
workplace as defined in section 1 provided by the State, a state 
agency, a county, a municipal corporation, a school district or 
other public corporation or political subdivision shall, within 8 
hours after the occurrence, report in writing or by telephone to 
the Director of the Bureau of Labor Standards the death of any 
person in the workplace or on the premises, stating as fully as 
possible the cause of the death and the place where the deceased 
person has been sent and supplying other information relative to 
the 
death 
that 
may 
be 
reguired 
by 
the 
director 
who 
may 
investigate the causes of the death and reguire such precautions 
to be taken as will prevent the recurrence of similar events. 
A 
statement contained in any such report is not admissible in 
evidence in any action arising out of the death reported. 
2. 
Reports of serious physical injuries. 
The person in 
charge of any workplace as defined in section 1 provided by the 
State, 
a 
state agency, 
a 
county, 
a 
municipal corporation, 
a 
school 
district 
or 
other 
public 
corporation 
or 
political 
subdivision shall, within 24 hours after the occurrence, report 
in writing or by telephone to the Director of the Bureau of Labor 
Standards 
all 
serious 
physical 
injuries 
reguiring 
immediate 
hospitalization sustained by any person in the workplace or on 
the premises, stating as fully as possible the extent and cause 
of the injury and the place where the injured person has been 
sent and supplying other information relative to the injury that 
may be reguired by the director who may investigate the causes of 
the 
~nJury and reguire such precautions to be taken as will 
prevent the recurrence of similar events. 
A statement contained 
in any such report is not admissible in evidence in any action 
arising out of the accident reported. 
3. 
Serious physical :a.n]uries defined. 
"Serious physical 
injuries," 
as 
used in this section, 
means 
an incident that 
results in an amputation, loss or fracture of any body part or 
that necessitates immediate hospitalization. 
SUMMARY 
This bill reduces the time frame in which a public employer 
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must report a death or serious injury to the Director of the 
Bureau of Labor Standards within the Department of Labor from 48 
hours to 8 hours for a death and 24 hours for a serious injury. 
These new limits are consistent 
wit~ the federal requirements 
under 
the 
Occupational 
Safety 
and 
Health 
Administration 
regulations .