OSHA S REVISED RECORDKEEPING RULE AND THE OSHA FORM 300 29 CFR 1904 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard on Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (29 CFR 1904) describes the responsibilities of employers and the rights of employees regarding work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths. It also provides several forms for recording injuries and illnesses. Who Is Covered By OSHA's Recordkeeping Rule? [1904.1 and 1904.2] The rule applies to private sector employers with more than 10 employees. State and local government employers are covered in states with federally approved State OSHA Plans. Several other states have job safety laws that cover state and local government workers, and they adopt OSHA rules. OSHA does not require employers in industries it considers "low hazard" to keep injury records. This category includes educational services (schools, colleges, universities, and libraries), medical and dental clinics and laboratories, and some other workplaces where Teamster members are employed. These employers must still report any workplace incident that results in a death or causes three or more employees to be hospitalized. Multi-employer Worksites and Multiple Business Establishments The rule requires employers to record injuries and illnesses that affect workers who they supervise on a day-to-day basis, including employees of temporary help services, employeeleasing services, personnel supply services, and contractors. On a multi-employer worksite, contractors and sub-contractors are responsible for keeping OSHA 300 Logs for their employees.
For businesses with multiple establishments, a separate OSHA 300 Log must be kept by an employer for each establishment that is expected to be in operation for one year or longer. What Is Required? Employers must record occupational injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 Log and the OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report. The rule includes new requirements to record job-related needlesticks, tuberculosis infections, hearing loss cases, and musculoskeletal disorders. Workers and union representatives have the right to review and obtain copies of employer injury and illness records. Employers must post a summary of this information (OSHA Form 300A) in the workplace each year, from February 1 through April 30. Which Injuries and Illnesses Must the Employer Record? [1904.4-1904.12] Employers must record new cases of work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses that involve: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional. The new language for "significant injury or illness" is improved and includes illnesses such as work-related cancer, silicosis, broken bones and punctured eardrums. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in 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 illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception in Section 1904.5(b)(2) specifically applies. What Forms Must Employers Use to Record Injuries And Illnesses? [1904.29] OSHA requires that employers use the following forms to record work-related injuries and illnesses: OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) is for recording injuries and illnesses. It replaced the OSHA 200 Log. ). It has been simplified and printed on smaller, legal size paper. A new form must be used effective January 1, 2004. OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report), or a similar form, must be used to record details for each injury or illness that is entered on the OSHA 300 Log. It replaces the OSHA Form 101, the Supplementary Record of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, and includes more data about how the injury or illness occurred. OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) includes the total of all cases, the number of days involving restricted duty or days off the job, and the number of each type of injury and illness for the year. The OSHA Form 300A is easier to International Brotherhood of Teamsters Safety & Health Department Page 2 of 5
understand than the old summary. A new form that includes a hearing loss section must be used effective January 1, 2004. Employers must record each case on the OSHA 300 Log and the Form 301 Incident Report within seven (7) calendar days after being notified that an injury or illness occurred. For each case, employers must check one of the following injury/illness categories on the OSHA 300 Log: 1. injury, 2. skin disorder, 3. respiratory condition, 4. poisoning, 5. all other illnesses. Employers must now use calendar days (including holidays and weekends) instead of scheduled workdays, for recording days away from work [1904.7]. Employers may now cap days away from work at 180 days. How Long Must Employers Keep Injury and Illness Records? [1904.33] The employer must save the OSHA 300 Log, the Form 300A Annual Summary, any privacy case list, and the Form 301 Incident Report forms for 5 years. The OSHA 300 Logs must be updated if the employer learns of any new cases that were not recorded. NOTE: OSHA has another standard for Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records [29 CFR 1910.1020]. This standard requires employers to keep employee medical records for the time they are employed plus another 30 years, and exposure records for 30 years. Please see IBT Fact Sheet on Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records. What Are Workers and Union Representatives Rights? [1904.35 and 1904.36] Workers and union representatives have important rights with regard to work-related injuries and illnesses: Employers must inform workers how to report injuries or illnesses and have procedures to receive these reports promptly. Employers must provide workers, former workers, union representatives, and personal representatives access to injury and illness records by the end of the next business day. A worker who requests a copy of a Form 301 Incident Report from the employer must be given a copy by the end of the next business day. A union representative who requests a copy of a Form 301 Incident Report from the employer must be given a copy within 7 calendar days. Employee representatives are given access only to the portion of Form 301 that contains information about the injury or illness, while personal information about the employee and his or her health care provider is withheld. Employers must provide copies of the OSHA 300 Logs and Form 301 Incident Report free of charge the first time they are requested. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Safety & Health Department Page 3 of 5
Employers are required to remove employees' names before providing injury and illness data to persons who do not have access rights under the rule. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee for reporting a workrelated fatality, injury or illness, filing a safety and health complaint, and asking for access to injury and illness records. How Is an Employee s Privacy Protected? Privacy Concern Cases [1904.29] An employee s privacy is to be protected in the following ways: Employers are required to protect employee's privacy by withholding an individual's name on Form 300 for certain types of sensitive injuries/illnesses. These include: 1. an injury to an intimate body part or the reproductive system, 2. an injury or illness that is the result of a sexual assault, 3. mental illnesses, 4. infection with HIV, hepatitis, or tuberculosis, 5. needlesticks or cuts from a sharp object that are contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material, 6. other illnesses, including MSDs, that a worker independently and voluntarily requests not be entered on the log. 7. Employers are allowed to withhold descriptive information about sensitive injuries in cases where not doing so would disclose the employee's identity. How Can Injury and Illness Records Be Used to Correct Problems? The OSHA 300, 301, and 300A forms can be valuable to workers and union representatives in determining: How many workers are getting injured or ill in the workplace. The kinds of injuries and illnesses workers are suffering. The departments or jobs where the most severe injuries/illnesses are occurring. Priorities for correcting job hazards. Workers and union representatives need to be aware that employer injury and illness records are often not complete or accurate. In addition, employers are not required to record all injuries and illnesses. For example, employers do not have to record: Injuries, such as assaults by patients or clients that do not require more than first aid, Early signs and symptoms of some musculoskeletal disorders, Occupational illnesses such as cancer or musculoskeletal disorders that an employer does not accept as work-related, Health problems caused by stress on the job, or Injuries that result in lost time or restricted activity only for the day of the incident. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Safety & Health Department Page 4 of 5
What are Some New Recordable Illnesses? Needlesticks [1904.8] - All work-related needlestick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material must be recorded on the 300 Log. The employer may not enter the worker's name on the 300 Log. Tuberculosis [1904.11] - Employers must record cases of workers who develop tuberculosis (TB) infection or disease after being exposed to an active case in the workplace. The case must be recorded in the "respiratory condition" column on the 300 Log, but without the worker's name. Hearing Loss [1904.10] - Employers must record cases on the OSHA 300 Log where an employee's hearing test (audiogram) reveals that the employee has experienced a workrelated change in hearing threshold (Standard Threshold Shift (STS)), relative to the baseline audiogram for that employee, of an average of 10 decibels (db) or more in one or both ears, and the employee's total hearing level is 25 decibels (db) or more above audiometric zero (averaged at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz) in the same ear(s) as the STS. ** Effective January 1, 2004, when you enter a recordable hearing loss case on the OSHA 300 Log, you must check the 300 Log column for hearing loss. For more information, please contact the Safety and Health Department at (202) 624-6960. Special thanks to AFSCME, the AFL-CIO and OSHA for information used to create this fact sheet. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Safety & Health Department Page 5 of 5
Injury Injury OSHA s Form 300 (Rev. 01/2004) Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses You must record information about every work-related death and about every work-related injury or illness that involves loss of consciousness, restricted work activity or job transfer, days away from work, or medical treatment beyond first aid. You must also record significant work-related injuries and illnesses that are diagnosed by a physician or licensed health care professional. You must also record work-related injuries and illnesses that meet any of the specific recording criteria listed in 29 CFR Part 1904.8 through 1904.12. Feel free to use two lines for a single case if you need to. You must complete an Injury and Illness Incident Report (OSHA Form 301) or equivalent form for each injury or illness recorded on this form. If you re not sure whether a case is recordable, call your local OSHA office for help. Attention: This form contains information relating to employee health and must be used in a manner that protects the confidentiality of employees to the extent possible while the information is being used for occupational safety and health purposes. Year 20 U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration Form approved OMB no. 1218-0176 Establishment name City State _ Identify the person Describe the case Classify the case (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) Case Employee s name Job title Date of injury Where the event occurred Describe injury or illness, parts of body affected, no. ( e.g., Welder) or onset ( e.g., Loading dock north end) and object/substance that directly injured of illness or made person ill ( e.g., Second degree burns on right forearm from acetylene torch) / Page totals CHECK ONLY ONE box for each case based on the most serious outcome for that case: Death Days away from work Remained at Work Job transfer or restriction Other recordable cases (G) (H) (I) (J) Enter the number of days the injured or ill worker was: Away from work On job transfer or restriction (K) (L) / Check the Injury column or choose one type of illness: (M) Skin disorder Respiratory condition Poisoning Hearing loss All other illnesses (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 14 minutes per response, including time to review the instructions, search and gather the data needed, and complete and review the collection of information. Persons are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. If you have any comments about these estimates or any other aspects of this data collection, contact: US Department of Labor, OSHA Office of Statistical Analysis, Room N-3644, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210. Do not send the completed forms to this office. Be sure to transfer these totals to the Summary page (Form 300A) before you post it. Page of Skin disorder Respiratory condition Poisoning Hearing loss All other illnesses (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
OSHA s Form 300A (Rev. 01/2004) Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses Year 20 U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration Form approved OMB no. 1218-0176 All establishments covered by Part 1904 must complete this Summary page, even if no work-related injuries or illnesses occurred during the year. Remember to review the Log to verify that the entries are complete and accurate before completing this summary. Using the Log, count the individual entries you made for each category. Then write the totals below, making sure you ve added the entries from every page of the Log. If you had no cases, write 0. Employees, former employees, and their representatives have the right to review the OSHA Form 300 in its entirety. They also have limited access to the OSHA Form 301 or its equivalent. See 29 CFR Part 1904.35, in OSHA s recordkeeping rule, for further details on the access provisions for these forms. Establishment information Your establishment name Street Number of Cases City State ZIP Total number of deaths Number of Days Total number of days away from work Total number of cases with days away from work (G) (H) (I) (J) Total number of days of job transfer or restriction (K) (L) Total number of cases with job transfer or restriction Total number of other recordable cases Industry description ( e.g., Manufacture of motor truck trailers) _ Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), if known ( e.g., 3715) OR North American Industrial Classification (NAICS), if known (e.g., 336212) Employment information (If you don t have these figures, see the Worksheet on the back of this page to estimate.) Annual average number of employees Total hours worked by all employees last year Injury and Illness Types Total number of... (M) (1) Injuries (4) Poisonings (5) Hearing loss (2) Skin disorders (6) All other illnesses (3) Respiratory conditions Post this Summary page from February 1 to April 30 of the year following the year covered by the form. Sign here Knowingly falsifying this document may result in a fine. I certify that I have examined this document and that to the best of my knowledge the entries are true, accurate, and complete. Company executive ( ) - / / Phone Title Date Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 50 minutes per response, including time to review the instructions, search and gather the data needed, and complete and review the collection of information. Persons are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. If you have any comments about these estimates or any other aspects of this data collection, contact: US Department of Labor, OSHA Office of Statistical Analysis, Room N-3644, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210. Do not send the completed forms to this office.
OSHA s Form 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report Attention: This form contains information relating to employee health and must be used in a manner that protects the confidentiality of employees to the extent possible while the information is being used for occupational safety and health purposes. U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration Form approved OMB no. 1218-0176 This Injury and Illness Incident Report is one of the first forms you must fill out when a recordable workrelated injury or illness has occurred. Together with the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses and the accompanying Summary, these forms help the employer and OSHA develop a picture of the extent and severity of work-related incidents. Within 7 calendar days after you receive information that a recordable work-related injury or illness has occurred, you must fill out this form or an equivalent. Some state workers compensation, insurance, or other reports may be acceptable substitutes. To be considered an equivalent form, any substitute must contain all the information asked for on this form. According to Public Law 91-596 and 29 CFR 1904, OSHA s recordkeeping rule, you must keep this form on file for 5 years following the year to which it pertains. If you need additional copies of this form, you may photocopy and use as many as you need. Information about the employee 1) Full name 2) Street City State ZIP 3) Date of birth / / 4) Date hired / / 5) Male Female Information about the physician or other health care professional 6) Name of physician or other health care professional 7) If treatment was given away from the worksite, where was it given? Facility Information about the case 10) Case number from the Log 11) Date of injury or illness (Transfer the case number from the Log after you record the case.) / / 12) Time employee began work AM / PM 13) Time of event AM / PM Check if time cannot be determined 14) What was the employee doing just before the incident occurred? Describe the activity, as well as the tools, equipment, or material the employee was using. Be specific. Examples: climbing a ladder while carrying roofing materials ; spraying chlorine from hand sprayer ; daily computer key-entry. 15) What happened? Tell us how the injury occurred. Examples: When ladder slipped on wet floor, worker fell 20 feet ; Worker was sprayed with chlorine when gasket broke during replacement ; Worker developed soreness in wrist over time. 16) What was the injury or illness? Tell us the part of the body that was affected and how it was affected; be more specific than hurt, pain, or sore. Examples: strained back ; chemical burn, hand ; carpal tunnel syndrome. Street Completed by _ Title Phone ( ) -- Date / / City State ZIP 8) Was employee treated in an emergency room? Yes No 9) Was employee hospitalized overnight as an in-patient? Yes No 17) What object or substance directly harmed the employee? Examples: concrete floor ; chlorine ; radial arm saw. If this question does not apply to the incident, leave it blank. 18) If the employee died, when did death occur? Date of death / / Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 22 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Persons are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a current valid OMB control number. If you have any comments about this estimate or any other aspects of this data collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden, contact: US Department of Labor, OSHA Office of Statistical Analysis, Room N-3644, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210. Do not send the completed forms to this office.