OSHA’s Injury and Illness Reporting requirement is due annually for most businesses with 20 or more employees. This requires physically posting the Form 300A Log at the physical place of business, and electronically on OSHA’s ITA site. This is not an optional provision. Instead, this is mandatory for many, if not most, businesses that meet certain classifications. Do you have questions about this process? Take a look at our frequently asked questions below.
Who is required to follow this mandatory function?
Establishments (i.e., Employers as defined under the North American Industry Classification System “NAICS” code) with 20-249 Employees must report. Notably, all US businesses are classified under the NAICS code.
IN A NUTSHELL: If your business has 20 or more employees, assume you need to post both internally, by physically posting and externally, by electronically submitting. Establishments with 250 or more employees that are currently required to keep OSHA Injury and Illness records (these are those Establishments that have been previously reporting in prior years), shall continue to do so under the Code.
Are any businesses or entities exempt from this reporting requirement?
Yes, there is one Establishment class with W2 employees, who is Exempt from any reporting requirement. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees for the entire year, including temporary workers, are not required to report either by posting internally and physically at your place of business or externally and electronically or both. (i.e., If an establishment has 8 full-time workers for the entire year plus it hires 3 seasonal workers, and then lays them off at the end of the season, this equals 11 total workers for the year. Thus, this establishment would be required to report by posting internally by physically posting, but it would not be required to post externally by electronically submitting, because it has greater than 10 employees in the aggregate at all times of the year but fewer than 20 employees.)
This Exception does not apply to Establishments with 10 or fewer employees that have been directly NOTIFIED by OSHA that they must annually report (likely, this OSHA directive would be triggered by some past serious workplace injury or fatality that occurred within the company). Any Establishment with 10 or fewer employees (at all times for a given year) that OSHA has specifically directed to Report Injury and Illness Logs, the reporting must be facilitated through a hard copy 300A Log that must be posted internally by physically posting at your place of business in a conspicuous location for the period of time provided for below.
What is required to be posted or electronically submitted or both?
For Establishments required to report (see above), a summary of all reportable workplace Injuries and Illnesses recorded on the Form 300A Log. For those of you who may not be in possession of this Form, it is downloadable on OSHA’s website.
How do I draft or fill out form 300A Log?
The link above provides for the entire suite of 300 series companion forms (300, 301, and 300A Log). This set of documents provides specific instructions for proper drafting, recording, and posting of all required data. Despite OSHA’s in-text instructions within this suite of documents, drafting these can be a little challenging for first-time user. It is important to note that all 300A Logs must be certified; meaning, it must be reviewed and endorsed by a company executive, owner, or other key person, such as an officer of the company that has the authority to endorse documents. In sum, if you should encounter an issue or are uncertain regarding the required data, please feel free to contact MNCLS for assistance.
When must I post or electronically file or both?
Physical Posting: The deadline for internally Posting a Physical document in a conspicuous location at an Establishment’s place of business is February 1st of the year following the year covered by the 300A Log. If you have more than one location in a given state, then post a copy at all locations. Meaning, by February 1st, 2022, the 300A log must be Posted that provides the Injury and Illness data for 2021 period. The 300A Log must remain Posted until April 30th (a three (3) month period).
After April 30th, the Posting may be removed and must be retained.
All related documents should be retained in a secure location for a period of 5-years (electronic PDFs are permitted, but hard copy backups are strongly suggested).
Electronic Posting: For those Establishments that must also submit to OSHA an electronic version of the 300A Log, the deadline for submission is March 2nd, 2022, which shall provide the Establishment’s summarized (and recordable) Injury and Illness data for the 2021 period just like the Physical hard copy.
In order to post electronically, which OSHA calls their Injury Tracking Application (ITA), an Establishment must have an OSHA account. Once you have accessed this portal, then fill out the form as required to create your account. Once your Account is created, then simply enter the required data, and then submit it. The required data is the information already contained on your Establishment’s 300A Log that is required to be summarized annually. Once submitted, then your Establishment is finished Reporting, but not recording, for another year (it is sort of like taxes)!