Posting of OSHA Form 300 Due by February 1, 2023

The vast majority of employers with more than 10 total employees must complete the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”) injury and illness recordkeeping forms (Form 300, 300A, and 301) on an ongoing basis. Further, and more urgently, employers required to keep these forms must also post the OSHA injury summary form (Form 300A) in a conspicuous location such as an employee breakroom by or before February 1, 2023.

To the extent your company has not maintained these required OSHA forms (300, 300A, 301), this is an excellent impetus to begin doing so, as annual maintenance of this log is required by OSHA, and must be made available to OSHA upon request. OSHA 300, 300A and 301 forms promulgated by OSHA are attached herewith for your reference.

Finally, please find below a summary of the information that must be produced on the OSHA 300 form, along with guidance on the supplemental 300A and 301 forms. While we understand this is primarily an administrative task, and thank you in advance for ensuring it is appropriately completed, we also note this may be difficult, and thus are available at your convenience should you have any questions or wish to discuss further.

OSHA 300 Form

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 Log to record specific details about what happened and how it happened. Employers who have more than one location must keep a separate Log for each physical location that is expected to be in operation for one year or longer.

To properly fill out the form, employers must, per location, log each and every “work-related injury or illness” that required “more than first aid” to rectify. Please note all “work-related injuries or illnesses” must be recorded on the log, unless exempted as noted below. Indeed, injuries/illnesses listed on the Log do not have to be eligible for workers’ compensation or other insurance benefits. Further, listing a case on the Log does not mean an employer or the injured worker were at fault or that an OSHA standard was violated.

For purposes of the Log, a “work-related injury or illness” occurs whenever an employee was injured while at work/working, or was otherwise exposed to something which caused an illness or exacerbated a pre-existing condition while at work/working. However, not all work related injuries/illnesses need to be recorded on the log.  Instead, employers only need to record a work-related injury/illness if it resulted in:

1. Death;
2. Loss of Consciousness;
3. Days missed away from work;
4. Job duty restrictions (such as light duty);
5. Medical treatment “beyond first aid” (detailed below);
6. Any needlestick or cut from a sharp contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material;
7. Removal from the worksite for medical reasons;
8. Tuberculosis infection; and/or
9. Substantive hearing loss.

“Illnesses” include things such as heatstroke, frostbite, contact dermatitis, blood poisoning from exposure to toxic chemicals, respiratory infections, etc. “First aid” (i.e. medical treatment which will not require an injury/illness be logged) includes: (i) use of non-prescription medication such as Tylenol or Advil; (ii) tetanus shots; (iii) cleaning/disinfecting minor cuts; (iv) use of band-aids or other minor wound covers; (v) other minor medical “procedures” such as cleaning with gauze, immobilizing with a stint, use of eye-patches, etc.

In order to fill out Form 300, an employer should:

1. Number the incidents in chronological order (A);
2. Identify the employee injured (B);
3. Provide the employee’s job title (C);
4. Provide the date of injury/illness onset (D);
5. Provide the location of the injury (warehouse, assembly line, carving block, etc.) (E);
6. Provide the exact injury/illness suffered, including the location (F);
7. Provide the reason the injury needed to be recorded on the log:
   • Death (G)
   • Days away from work (H);
   • Job transfer or duty restriction (I); or
   • Other recordable reason (see above) (J);
8. Enter the number of days the employee:
   • Missed work (K); or
   • Required a job transfer/duty restriction (L); and
9. Classify the recordable event as an:
   • Injury (all injuries) (M1);
   • Skin condition (dermatitis, rash, etc.) (M2);
   • Respirator condition (bronchitis, COPD, etc.) (M3);
   • Poisoning (blood poisoning, etc.) (M4);
   • Hearing loss (M5); or
   • Other (M6).

The OSHA log must be kept for at least 5 years – we recommend 7.

OSHA Form 300A

This is a Summary form for OSHA form 300. In order to complete, employers should simply aggregate the entirety of the incidents/events recorded on OSHA form 300 for the prior year, and input the results where noted (i.e. number of deaths, number of cases which caused days away from work, total days missed/on duty restriction, total number of individualized injuries, etc.). As with the Log, a separate Summary should be prepared for each physical location.

This form (and only this form) must be posted in a conspicuous place (i.e. an employee break room) by February 1, and must remain posted until April 30, of every year. This form must also be kept for at least 5 years (we recommend 7).

OSHA Form 301

Finally, OSHA Form 301 is the companion form to the OSHA form 300. It is a detailed form which explains the incident/injury, the reasons underlying the incident/injury (i.e. what the employee was doing that led to injury); and other details relevant to same. This form should be kept with OSHA Form 300, for at least 5 (7 recommended) years.

Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP will continue to keep employers abreast of further developments. Employers with questions or concerns are encouraged to contact Christopher P. Hampton at champton@meltzerlippe.com.

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