What Is the OSHA 200 Log?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 200 log was a required form to document “work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses”. Effective on January 1, 2002, the OSHA 200 log was replaced by two new forms: OSHA 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses); and OSHA 300-A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses). According to OSHA, the changes were made to simplify the reporting process and to be able to gather more comprehensive data.

Forms

• The OSHA Form 300 replaced the log portion of the OSHA Form 200 log. This new form contains entries for the company’s name and address, followed by a space to briefly describe the incident.

  The OSHA Form 300-A replaced the summary portion of the OSHA Form 200 log. This form is a compilation of Form 300s and completed at the end of each year.

  The OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Report), a replacement for the former Form 101, is used to expand on the entry made on the Form 300. Details such as the name of the doctor involved (if required), the treatment provided, and a detailed description of the incident are included. This information is often used on a worker’s compensation report.

Recording Criteria

• There are several fundamental criteria that determine if reporting is necessary. The injury or illness must be work-related, meaning it happened at the worksite, or during work related activities. The case must be new. This eliminates multiple reporting of the same incident.

  Reporting is necessary if a new, work-related injury or illness results in any of the following conditions: death, work days missed or work duties become limited, medical care needed goes beyond simple first aid, or the worker loses consciousness.

  If the work-related incident involves needles and/or potentially infectious material, such as bloody clothing, it gets reported accordingly. It is reported as an injury if a needle or other “sharp” causes a wound (puncture or cut). It is reported as an illness if the incident involves potentially infectious material, without a wound.

Exemptions

• There are two basic exemptions that allow companies to not complete or file injury and illness forms.

  Companies with 10 or fewer employees, are not required to report fatalities, injuries or illnesses, unless a single workplace incident results in hospitalization or death of three or more employees.

  Companies that are classified as “low hazard”, such as retail, service, and financial businesses are also exempt from filing OSHA forms 300, 300-A, and 301.

Providing Records to a Government Representative

• Completed Forms 300, 300-A and 301 have to be made available to any authorized Department of Labor representative if they are requested. Generally, this representative is an OSHA inspector. The forms can be used to determine if appropriate corrective action was taken after an incident. These corrective actions may be in the form of additional employee training, or improvements in engineering and control procedures.

Employee Involvement

• Employee involvement in reporting work-related incidents is key to improving health and safety in the workplace. If employees do not report injuries or illnesses acquired on the job, the employer is many times unaware of any problems. Employers are required to have a written procedure in place to train workers on how and where to report incidents.