Injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting

Scope

Employers with more than ten 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. (Partially exempt industries include establishments in specific low hazard retail, service, finance, insurance or real estate industries and are listed in Appendix A to Subpart B.)

Regulatory citations

• 29 CFR 1904 — Recording and reporting occupational injuries and illnesses

Key definitions

• Amputation: The traumatic loss of a limb or other external body part. Amputations include a part, such as a limb or appendage, that has been severed, cut off, amputated (either completely or partially); fingertip amputations with or without bone loss; medical amputations resulting from irreparable damage; amputations of body parts that have since been reattached. Amputations do not include avulsions, enucleations, deglovings, scalpings, severed ears, or broken or chipped teeth.
• Company executive: The owner of the company; an officer of the corporation; the highest ranking company official working at the establishment; or the immediate supervisor of the highest ranking company official working at the establishment.
• Covered employees: All employees on your payroll, whether they are labor, executive, hourly, salary, part-time, seasonal, or migrant workers. Covered employees also include temporary employees who are not on your payroll if you supervise them on a day-to-day basis. If your business is organized as a sole proprietorship or partnership the owner or partners are not considered employees.
• Day(s) away from work: The employer or medical professional has recommended the employee stay home for the full workday.
• Days away, restricted, or transferred (DART) rate: Cases involving days away from work, restricted work activity, and transfers to another job and is calculated based on (N/EH) x (200,000) where N is the number of cases involving days away and/or job transfer or restriction, EH is the total number of hours worked by all employees during the calendar year, and 200,000 is the base for 100 full-time equivalent employees.
• Day-to-day supervision: In addition to specifying the output, product, or result to be accomplished by a person’s work, the employer supervises the details, means, methods, and processes by which the work is to be accomplished.
• Establishment: A single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. For activities where employees do not work at a single physical location, such as construction; transportation; communications, electric, gas and sanitary services; and similar operations, the establishment is represented by main or branch offices, terminals, stations, etc. that either supervise such activities or are the base from which personnel carry out these activities.
• Equivalent form: A form that has the same information, is as readable and understandable, and is completed using the same instructions as the OSHA form.
• First aid:
  • Using a non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength (for medications available in both prescription and non-prescription form, a recommendation by a physician or HCP to use a non-prescription medication at prescription strength is considered medical treatment);
  • Administering tetanus immunizations (other immunizations, such as hepatitis B vaccine or rabies vaccine, are considered medical treatment);
  • Cleaning, flushing, or soaking wounds on the surface of the skin;
  • Using wound coverings such as bandages, Band-Aids™, gauze pads, etc.; or using butterfly bandages or Steri-Strips™ (other wound closing devices such as sutures or staples are considered medical treatment);
  • Using hot or cold therapy;
  • Using any non-rigid means of support, such as elastic bandages, wraps, non-rigid back belts, etc. (devices with rigid stays or other systems designed to immobilize parts of the body are considered medical treatment);
  • Using temporary immobilization devices while transporting an accident victim (splints, slings, neck collars, back boards, etc.);
  • Drilling a fingernail/toenail to relieve pressure, or draining fluid from a blister;
  • Using eye patches;
  • Removing foreign bodies from the eye using only irrigation or a cotton swab;
  • Removing splinters or foreign material from areas other than the eye by irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs or other simple means;
  • Using finger guards;
  • Using massages (physical therapy or chiropractic treatment are considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes); or
  • Drinking fluids for relief of heat stress.
• First Report of Injury form: The form used by a state’s Workers’ Compensation agency to document work-related injuries.
• Forms: The OSHA 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses; the 300-A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses; and the OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report (or equivalent forms).
• General recording criteria: An injury or illness that results in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. The general recording criteria also include significant injuries or illnesses that have been diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional even if they do not meet the other recording criteria (e.g., punctured eardrum).
• In-patient hospitalization: Formal admittance to the in-patient service of a hospital or clinic for care or treatment. In-patient hospitalization does not include trips to the hospital for observation or diagnostic testing only. Also, it does not include outpatient treatment, such as going to the emergency room for stitches.
• Injury/illness record: A record made to satisfy OSHA’s requirements for injuries that meet certain criteria (i.e., are work-related and result in medical treatment beyond first aid, lost-time, loss of consciousness, or other specified criteria).
• Medical treatment: The management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder. Under OSHA’s recordkeeping standard, medical treatment does not include:
  • Visits to a physician or other licensed healthcare professional solely for observation or counseling;
  • The conduct of diagnostic procedures, such as X-rays and blood tests, including the administration of prescription medications used solely for diagnostic purposes (eye drops to dilate pupils); or
  • Procedures that constitute the standard’s definition of first aid.
• New case: An injury or illness that an employee has not previously experienced a recorded injury or illness of the same type that affects the same part of the body; or an injury or illness of the same type or to the same part of the body that had completely healed (all signs and symptoms had disappeared.)
• Physician or other licensed healthcare professional: An individual whose legally permitted scope of practice (i.e., license, registration, or certification) allows him or her to independently perform, or be delegated the responsibility to perform, the activities described by this regulation.
• Privacy concern case: An injury or illness: to an intimate body part or the reproductive system; resulting from a sexual assault; involving mental illness; involving HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis; resulting from sharps and needlesticks; as well as other injuries or illnesses of a sensitive nature.
• Reporting: Directly contacting OSHA via telephone or online all work-related fatalities, in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye.
• Restricted work: A recommendation by the employer or medical professional to keep the employee from performing one or more routine job functions, or from working the full workday the worker would otherwise have worked.
• Retention and updating period: The five-year storage period for OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping forms. During this time, you must update the OSHA 300 Log to show any changes that have occurred in the classification of previously recorded injuries and illnesses. If the description or outcome of a case changes, you must remove or line out the original entry and enter the new information.
• Work environment: OSHA defines the work environment as the establishment and other locations where one or more employees are working or are present as a condition of their employment. The work environment includes not only physical locations, but also the equipment or materials used by an employee to perform work.
• Work-related: The work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illness resulting from events or exposures in the work environment unless an exemption specifically applies.

Summary of requirements

The basic requirements of Part 1904 to record and report work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses, include the following:

• Determine if the rule applies to you. You are covered by Part 1904 if you have 11 or more employees at any time during the last calendar year unless your company is classified as a partially exempt industry under 1904.2. The partial exemption for size applies to your entire company, not just single locations; however, one or more of your establishments may qualify for the industry classification exemption. You must also keep records if you are directed to do so in writing by OSHA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, your state, or other government entity.
  You must keep a separate OSHA 300 Log for each establishment that is expected to be in operation for one year or longer. You may keep one OSHA 300 Log covering all of your short-term establishments.
• Establish an employee injury reporting program. You have to set up a procedure for employees to report injuries and illnesses. It is illegal to discriminate against employees who report work-related injuries and illnesses.
• Keep the required records. Employers must keep records of each fatality, injury, or illness that is:
  1. Work-related, and
  2. A new case, and
  3. Meets one or more of the general recording criteria.
• Use the correct forms. Injuries and illnesses are recorded on the OSHA 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. For each injury or illnesses listed on the Log, you must complete an OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report (or equivalent form). Many employers choose to use their state’s First Report of Injury (FROI) form for this purpose. At the end of the year, you must complete the 300-A Summary and have it certified by a company executive.
• Post the OSHA 300-A Summary no later than February 1 of the year following the year covered by the records and keep the posting in place until April 30. You must post a copy of the annual summary in each establishment in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted. In addition, you must ensure that the summary is not altered, defaced, or covered by other material.
• Record work-related injuries and illnesses for all covered employees. Covered employees include hourly and salaried employees as well as seasonal workers, laborers, migrant workers, and part-time workers. You must record the work-related injuries and illnesses that occur to temporary workers, even if they are not on your payroll, if you supervise them on a day-to-day basis.
• Determine work-relatedness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses that occur at work unless a specific exemption applies. To be work-related, injuries and illnesses do not have to have a clear connection to a specific work activity, condition, or substance that is peculiar to the employment environment. For instance, an employee may trip for no reason on a clean, dry, level factory floor. However, OSHA says that a causal connection is established by the fact that the injury would not have occurred but for the conditions and obligations of employment that placed the employee in the position that the worker was injured or made ill. In other words, if it happens at work, it’s most likely work-related.
  
  OSHA does allow exemptions to work-relatedness. Injuries or illnesses occurring at work are not recordable if:
  • At the time of the injury or illness, the employee was present in the work environment as a member of the general public rather than as an employee.
  • The injury or illness involves signs or symptoms that surface at work but result solely from a non-work-related event or exposure that occurs outside the work environment.
  • The injury or illness results solely from voluntary participation in a wellness program or in a medical, fitness, or recreational activity such as blood donation, physical examination, flu shot, exercise class, racquetball, or baseball.
  • The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee eating, drinking, or preparing food or drink for personal consumption (whether bought on the employer’s premises or brought in). For example, if the employee is injured by choking on a sandwich while in the employer’s establishment, the case would not be considered work-related. Note: If the employee is made ill by ingesting food contaminated by workplace contaminants (such as lead), or gets food poisoning from food supplied by the employer, the case would be considered work-related.
  • The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks (unrelated to their employment) at the establishment outside of the employee’s assigned working hours.
  • The injury or illness is solely the result of personal grooming, self-medication for a non-work-related condition, or is intentionally self-inflicted.
  • The injury or illness is caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work.
  • The illness is the common cold or flu (Note: Contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, hepatitis A, or plague are considered work-related if the employee is infected at work).
  • The illness is a mental illness. Mental illness will not be considered work-related unless the employee voluntarily provides the employer with an opinion from a physician or other licensed healthcare professional with appropriate training and experience (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, etc.) stating that the employee has a mental illness that is work-related.
• Determine if you have a new case. You must consider an injury or illness to be a new case if the employee hasn’t previously experienced a recorded injury of the same type that affects the same part of the body. In addition, a new case includes injuries and illnesses that the employee previously experienced, but from which the employee had completely recovered.
• Determine if the case meets the general recording criteria. Injuries and illnesses meet the general recording criteria if they result in death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. Also, a case meets the general recording criteria if a medical professional diagnoses it as a significant injury or illness.
• Report to OSHA. All employers, even those who may be exempt from other recordkeeping requirements, must promptly report to OSHA all work-related:
  • Fatalities
  • In-patient hospitalizations
  • Amputations
  • Losses of an eye
• Maintain the injury and illness records for the five-year retention and update period. You must keep the OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping forms on file for five years. During that time, if the classification of a case changes (e.g. An employee who was on restricted work status needed surgery related to the original injury, resulting in days away from work), then you will need to update the OSHA 300-Log to reflect those changes. You do not need to update the annual summary or the incident reports, but you may do so if you wish.
• You may elect to keep centralized records. If you choose to keep all of your injury and illness records in one central location, you must be able to produce the forms when requested to do so by a government representative within four hours.
• Ensure employee privacy. Employers must ensure that sensitive or embarrassing information about an employee’s injury or illness is not made public.
• Electronically submit your injury data to OSHA by March 2 each year. Certain employers have to electronically submit injury data under Part 1904. The requirement applies to the following:
  • Establishments with 250 or more employees that are required to keep OSHA injury and illness records must submit the 300A.
  • Establishments with 20 or more employees that are classified in certain industries listed in Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 1904 must submit the 300A. OSHA lists those industries by 2017 NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes.
  • Establishments with 100 or more employees that are classified in certain industries listed in Appendix B to Subpart E of Part 1904 will submit the 300A along with certain information from the 300 Log and 301 Forms.