OSHA Reporting Requirements

OSHA Safety Signs
Best Practices Guides

The current OSHA reporting requirement is:

1904.39(a) Basic requirement. Within eight (8) hours after 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, you must orally report the fatality/multiple hospitalization by telephone or in person to the Area Office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor, that is nearest to the site of the incident. You may also use the OSHA toll-free central telephone number, 1-800-321-OSHA (1-800-321-6742).

In addition you will need to create and maintain records about the incident. If there is an OSHA investigation they will ask for these records, so they should be considered to be part of your OSHA reporting requirements.

OSHA Record Keeping - What do you need to do?

1. Within seven calendar days after your receive information about an injury or illness incident, decide if the incident is recordable under the OSHA record keeping requirements.
2. Determine whether the incident is a new case or a recurrence of an existing one.
3. Establish whether the case was work related.
4. If the case is recordable, decide which form you will fill out as the injury and illness incident report. You may use OSHA's 310: Injury and Illness Incident Report or an equivalent form. Some state workers compensation, insurance, or other reports may be acceptable substitutes, as long as they provide the same information as the OSHA 301.

There are three OSHA record keeping forms you'll need to use:

1. OSHA 300 form: This is log of work-related injuries and illnesses.
2. OSHA 300A form: This is a summary of work-related injuries and illnesses.
3. OSHA 301 form: This is the injury and illness incident report.

The information in your Log Of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses is the key component of your OSHA reporting requirements.

How to work with the Log

The Log Of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (Form 300) is used to classify work-related injuries and illnesses and to note the extent and severity of each case. When an incident occurs, use the Form 300 Log to record specific details about what happened and how it happened.

The Summary & this is a separate form (Form 300A) that shows the totals for the year in each category. At the end of the year, post the summary in a visible location so that your employees are aware of the injuries and illnesses occurring in their workplace.

Employers must keep a log for each establishment or site. If you have more than one establishment, you must keep a separate log and summary for each physical location that is expected to be in operation for one year or longer.

Note that your employees have the right to review your injury and illness records. For more information, see 29 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1904.35, Employee Involvement.

Cases listed on the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses are not necessarily eligible for workers' compensation or other insurance benefits. Listing a case on the does not mean that the employer or worker was at fault or that an OSHA standard was violated.
When filling out the Log:

Identify the employee involved unless it is a privacy concern.

Identify when and where the incident occurred.

Describe the incident as completely and specifically as you can.

Classify the seriousness of the incident by recording the most serious outcome associated with the incident, with column G (death) being the most serious and column J (other recordable cases) being the least serious.

Identify whether the incident was an injury or illness. If the it was an injury, check the injury category. If the incident was is an illness, check the appropriate illness category.

How long must you keep the Log and Summary on File?

You must keep the Log and Summary for 5 years following the year to which they pertain.

Do you have to send these forms to OSHA at the end of the year?

No. You do not have to send the completed forms to OSHA unless specifically asked to do so.

To learn more about how you can support workplace safety, call Graphic Products at 1-800-788-5572.