Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees and completion of the injury and illness records is a key OSHA recordkeeping requirement. February 1st is the deadline for employers to post 300-A Summary forms listing 2019 injuries and illnesses.
As stated in the OSHA Small Business Handbook, “The primary purpose of OSHA-required recordkeeping is to retain information about accidents that have happened to help determine the causes and develop procedures to prevent a recurrence. Importantly, good recordkeeping will be evidence of “good faith in reducing any penalties from OSHA inspections…” (Handbook, page 11).
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Records must be maintained at the worksite for at least five years. Each February through April, employers must post a summary of the injuries and illnesses recorded the previous year. Also, if requested, copies of the records must be provided to current and former employees, or their representatives.
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Five (5) Steps in OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping
The OSHA Small Business Handbook identifies five (5) steps in injury and illness recordkeeping system (Handbook, page 13):
- Obtain a report on every injury or job-related illness requiring medical treatment (other than basic first aid).
- Record each injury or job-related illness on OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) using the instructions provided.
- Prepare a supplementary record of occupational injuries and illnesses for recordable cases on OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report).
- Every year, prepare an annual summary using OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses). Post it no later than February 1, and keep it posted until May 1. A good place to post it is next to the OSHA Workplace Poster.
- Retain these records for at least five (5) years.
In addition to the injury and illness reporting and recordkeeping requirements, other OSHA standards also create recordkeeping requirements. The Handbook offers a helpful, but not all-inclusive “self-inspection” checklist (Handbook, page 19).
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The OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) is accessible from the ITA launch page, where you can provide the Agency your OSHA Form 300A information. The date by which certain employers are required to submit to OSHA the information from their completed Form 300A is March 2nd of the year after the calendar year covered by the form.
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Employers must report any worker fatality within 8 hours and any amputation, loss of an eye, or hospitalization of a worker within 24 hours.