OSHA Recordkeeping: A Change and an Upcoming Deadline

OSHA Issues Final Rule Revising Electronic Recordkeeping Regulations

Today, January 25, 2019, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a final rule eliminating the requirement for establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit information from OSHA Forms 300 and 301.

These establishments will continue to maintain those records on-site, and OSHA will continue to obtain them as needed through inspections and enforcement actions. In addition to reporting required after severe injuries, establishments will continue to submit information from their Form 300A.

The recordkeeping regulation amendments also require covered employers to submit their Employer Identification Number (EIN) electronically along with their injury and illness data submission.

Employers must continue to maintain OSHA Forms 300 and 301 for OSHA inspection.

The final rule is effective February 25, 2019.

OSHA Form 300A Posting Deadline is February 1

All employers required to keep OSHA’s Form 300, Injury and Illness Incident Report, and are also required to post OSHA’s Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, from February 1 through April 30 each year. The summary must be posted in a common area where notices to employees are usually located.

Of note, certain employers are partially exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness reports:

• Employers with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year; or
• Employers in certain low-hazard industries, unless asked in writing to do so by OSHA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), or a state agency operating under the authority of either.

However, all employers must report to OSHA any workplace incident that results in a fatality, inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.