Recordkeeping/Reporting – Safety Checklist

Many employers with more than 10 employees are required to keep a record of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. Minor injuries requiring first aid only do not need to be recorded.

  • How does OSHA define a recordable injury or illness?
  • How does OSHA define first aid?

This information helps employers, workers and OSHA evaluate the safety of a workplace, understand industry hazards, and implement worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards –preventing future workplace injuries and illnesses.

Maintaining and Posting Records

The records must be maintained at the worksite for at least five years. If requested, copies of the records must be provided to current and former employees, or their representatives.

Updated Electronic Submission of Records

The Injury Tracking Application (ITA) is accessible from the ITA launch page, where you can provide the Agency your 2017 OSHA Form 300A information. Learn about OSHA’s rule on submitting injury and illness records electronically.

Severe Injury Reporting

Employers must report any worker fatality within 8 hours and any amputation, loss of an eye, or hospitalization of a worker within 24 hours.

Recordkeeping: Compliance and Common Sense

There are good reasons for keeping up-to-date records of accidents and injuries that occur on the job. A thorough reporting and recordkeeping system can also provide you with valuable information concerning accident patterns and prevention. Being able to observe injury and illness allows an opportunity to strengthen the overall safety of the workplace.

When to Record

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires most employers to maintain OSHA records for all “OSHA recordable” injuries and illnesses. Employers meeting the requirements for a small-employer exemption or who are engaged in what are known as a “partially exempt industry” may be exempt from maintaining these records. Employers who are not exempt must record if:

  • An employee is involved.
  • Are work-related.
  • Are a new case, meaning that the employee has not previously experienced a recorded injury or illness of the same type that affects the same part of the body or that the employee previously experienced such an injury or illness, but completely recovered.
  • Result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
  • Are a significant work-related injury or illness that is diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional.

 

  • Result from a needlestick injury or a cut from a sharp object that is contaminated with another person’s blood or other potentially infectious material.
  • Result in the medical removal of an employee under the medical surveillance requirements of an OSHA standard.
  • Involve occupational hearing loss.
  • Involve an occupational exposure to tuberculosis and subsequent development of the infection.

Organizations regulated by OSHA are required to maintain a log (OSHA Form 300) and an annual summary (OSHA Form 300A) of occupational injuries and illnesses, as well as a supplementary record of each recordable injury or illness (OSHA Form 301). These records must be kept up to date and must be made available to OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on request. You must retain them on file for at least five years.

State laws often also require you to keep safety and health records and to file reports

Importance of Reporting All Injuries Safety Talk

We are all trained to report any near misses, injuries, or incidents to a supervisor or safety representative. Often times however many of these incidents, especially first aid type injuries, are not reported.

Reasons Why Incidents Go Unreported

A major reason is often the individual’s pride. Most people do not want to admit their mistakes to others, especially at work. They may also fear the outcome from sharing what occurred with a supervisor. This fear may come from being afraid of being disciplined, what others think, or the repercussions from the incident. Another reason a person may not want to report an incident is because of the paperwork or energy involved in doing so. There are many other reasons why an individual may not want to share what happened to them, but this should never be the case.

Why it is Important to Report Injuries

There are many reasons why you should report any type of injury, no matter the severity. The most important reason is to make sure the situation or hazard is made safe for not only yourself, but the others at the worksite. Another reason is to further share your experience or the lessons learned from the incident with others to prevent it from occurring in the future.

With injuries, even just minor ones, it is important to get them looked at by a supervisor or safety representative.

Summary

All injuries need to be reported, no matter how small. Not only does it protect workers, but it also protects the company as a whole by possibly preventing a first aid injury developing into an OSHA recordable. You never know when something that seems minor in nature will develop into something more serious. There are also always lessons that can be learned, even from just minor injuries, to prevent others from occurring in the future…