It’s time again to post the OSHA Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (Form 300A). If you are thinking: “What is the OSHA form 300A?”, “Post it where?”, “Is my company required to do this?”, then I am glad you are here.
Hopefully you already know how to properly report and record a work-related injury or illness. Usually your Workers’ Compensation Insurance Carrier will provide you with a reporting form that follows your State’s regulations as well as OSHA reporting Standards. (If they do not have an applicable form, you should use OSHA Form 301.) This Meith Minute is about what to do with those completed reports.
If you are a business with more than 10 employees, then you are required to keep a log (Form 300) and post the summary (Form 300A) of the work-related injuries and illnesses that have occurred at your company each year. (There are a few exempt industries and a listing of those exempt industries can be found on the OSHA website.)
The Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (Form 300) is similar to an index of the calendar year’s work-related injuries and illnesses. The log will list some basic information about the injured person, a few details of the case, how it affected the employee and their time at work, and a classification of the injury or illness. OSHA provides thorough and easy to understand instructions and examples on how to fill out this form.
From that log, a summary of the calendar year’s work-related injuries and illnesses is created. This summary (Form 300A) totals number of cases, number of work days that were affected by injuries or illness, a total number of what kind of injuries or illnesses occurred, and then basic information on the company.
This summary (Form 300A) is required to be completed and posted every year, for the previous year’s data, even if your company did not have any recordable injuries or illnesses. The summary must be posted from February 1st to April 30th. It should be posted where your company usually post notices, like the workplace safety notices and compliance posters.
After it has been posted for the required duration, the summary can be taken down and saved as part of your company’s required recordkeeping and should be retained for a period of 5 years. Also, give yourself a pat on the back, good job on compliance and recordkeeping!
Here is a link to the OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301, along with their detailed instructions. OSHA Forms for Recording Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses