What Type of Incidents Must Be Reported to OSHA?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a federal agency formed to address safety issues in the workplace. OSHA sets regulations in many specific topics to help prevent worker injuries, illnesses and death. Reporting is an important part of the regulation process. While some incidents demand immediate reporting, others require record-keeping. OSHA inspectors will check injury and illness records if they do an inspection of your company.

Recordable Incidents

• OSHA states that a workplace injury or illness must be recorded if it meets certain criteria. If death occurs or a worker must stay away from work for a period of time, the incidents must be recorded in the OSHA Log. Both of these types of incidents must also be reported immediately to OSHA. When an employee is restricted in the type of work he may perform, or if the injury or illness requires him to transfer to another job, these must be recorded on the OSHA Log.

  Other recordable incidents include those that require medical treatment and any incident that results in unconsciousness. There is also a stipulation that employers must record incidents when a health professional deems that a worker has suffered a work-related injury or illness, even though it was not reported when it happened.

The Eight-Hour Rule

• When an accidental death occurs on the job or when three or more employees are hospitalized as a result of a workplace incident, OSHA mandates that the incident be reported orally within eight hours. It is imperative that the company report these incidents within the eight-hour time frame. After calling OSHA, the employer must fill out all necessary paperwork, as an OSHA investigator should come to the workplace within a few hours. Reports, photos and other items such as witness statements or their names and contact info should be ready for the OSHA representative when he arrives. A death resulting from a heart attack on the job also must be reported immediately.

OSHA 300 Logs

• OSHA has two forms on which employers should keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses as they occur. The OSHA 300 Log is a list-type form on which employers should put information about each recordable incident. In addition, the 301 form must be filled out. This form is for the employer to provide in-depth details about each incident.

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What to Send to OSHA

• After the end of each year, you are required to fill out and send a 300 A form to OSHA. The 300 A is a summary form on which employers record information from the 300 and 301 logs. The summary will provide OSHA with a record of the number of cases of deaths, injuries and illnesses throughout the year. The form also should contain information about the number of lost-time work days and the types of illnesses and injuries that occurred. OSHA will review this summary. You need only send the 300 Summary to OSHA and keep the individual 300 and 301 log pages in your files.