OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

Under the OSHA record keeping regulation, covered employers are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses. Such events must be recorded on the OSHA 300 Log. This type of information is important for employers, workers and OSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace, understanding industry hazards, and implementing worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards.

What Employers are Required to Report: All employers covered by the Act must orally report to OSHA the death of any employee from a work-related incident or the in-patient hospitalization of three or more employees as a result of a work-related incident within eight (8) hours.

When Employers are Required to Prepare and Maintain Records:  Employers with more than ten (10) employees and whose establishments are not classified as a partially exempt industry must record work-related injuries and illnesses using OSHA Forms 300, 300A and 301. These forms are available at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Website.  Partially exempt industries include establishments in specific low hazard retail, service, finance, insurance, or real estate industries.

Employers who are required to keep Form 300, the Injury and Illness log, must post Form 300A, the Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, in the workplace every year from February 1 to April 30. Please note that current and former employees, or their representatives, have the right to access injury and illness records.  In fact, employers must give the “requester” a copy of the relevant record(s) by the end of the next business day.

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