• All employers covered by the OSH Act must keep records of injury or illness as detailed in Part 1904, with some exceptions for size and industry category.

All employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) are covered by the Part 1904 regulations. However, many employers do not have to keep Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) injury and illness records unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) informs them in writing that they must keep records. For example, employers with 10 or fewer employees and business establishments in certain industry classifications are partially exempt from keeping OSHA injury and illness records.

What is the partial exemption for size?

The partial exemption for size is based on the number of employees in the entire company. To determine this, employers must examine their peak employment during the last calendar year.

Employers who had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year do not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) informs the employer in writing that they must keep records under 1904.41 or 1904.42.

Employers who had more than 10 employees at any time during the last calendar year must keep OSHA injury and illness records unless the establishment is classified as a partially exempt industry under 1904.2.

What is the partial exemption for industry category?

If a business establishment is classified in a specific industry group listed in Appendix A to Subpart B, they do not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless the government asks the company to keep the records under 1904.41 or 1904.42. If one or more of the company’s establishments are classified in a non-exempt industry, the company must keep OSHA injury and illness records for all of such establishments unless partially exempted because of size under 1904.1.

The partial industry classification exemption applies to individual business establishments. If a company has several business establishments engaged in different classes of business activities, some of the company’s establishments may be required to keep records, while others may be partially exempt.

What if an employer is required to keep records for another agency?

If an employer creates records to comply with another government agency’s injury and illness recordkeeping requirements, OSHA will consider those records as meeting OSHA’s Part 1904 requirements if OSHA accepts the other agency’s records under a memorandum of understanding with that agency, or if the other agency’s records contain the same information as required by Part 1904. Employers should contact the nearest OSHA office or state agency for help in determining whether their records meet OSHA’s requirements.

When must an employer provide records to an authorized government representative?

When an authorized government representative asks for an employer’s records kept under Part 1904, such as during an OSHA inspection, the employer must provide copies of the records within four business hours.

If the employer’s records are retained at a centralized location in a different time zone, the employer may use the business hours of the establishment at which the records are located when calculating the four-hour deadline.