Do you have 10 or more employees? Are you required by law to put up an OSHA poster where your employees can see it? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are also probably required to complete OSHA forms 300 and 300A and to post form 300A where it is highly visible and easily accessible to your employees for 90 days – from February 1 through April 30 – of each year.
The OSHA Form 300 tracks all work related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities that have occurred during the previous year’s business operations in detail. OSHA Form 300A summarizes the information included on Form 300, providing totals rather than details of different types of incidents. Even if there have been no work related injuries, illnesses, or fatalities, you are still required to summarize the contents of OSHA Form 300 on OSHA Form 300A, even if the numbers provided are all zeros.
The OSHA Form 300 usually comes as a package including Form 300, Form 300A and a copy of Form 301 which is filled out for each incident that occurs. All three of these forms are often referred to as Part 1904, after the OSHA regulation that requires their use. These forms were developed to standardize reporting around workplace hazards and to offer employees more information about the incidence of workplace injuries while protecting the identity of those who have been injured.
The following video gives an overview of each form mentioned here.
In addition to keeping and filing accurate Form 300s and posting Form 300A, you will also need to retain these records for five years.
