How to Work With OSHA After an Accident

​The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires most employers with 10 or more full-time employees to log all reportable work-related illnesses and injuries. This information should be recorded on OSHA Form 300: Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.

Employers must report where and when the injury happened, the nature of the illness or injury, the name and job title of the sick or injured employee, and the number of days the employee spent away from work or on light or restricted duty.

Which injuries and illnesses are reportable?
All job-related fatalities, illnesses and injuries must be reported if they involve:

• Death.
• Days off from work.
• Job transfer or restricted work.
• Medical treatment (above first aid).
• Loss of consciousness.
• A major illness or injury diagnosed by a licensed health care professional.

The Form 300 log must be updated whenever there's a new reportable injury or illness.

Are there any related forms that must be completed?
Employers must complete and post OSHA Form 300A: Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses in a conspicuous area of the workplace from Feb. 1 through April 30 each year — even if no job-related illnesses or injuries happened during the year.
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There's also OSHA Form 301: Injury and Illness Incident Report, which is used to report how the injury or illness occurred.

When must illnesses and injuries be reported?
They should be reported within seven days after you've been notified of the illness or injury.

Which employees must be reported?
You must record injuries and illnesses for everyone on your payroll, including salaried, hourly, part-time, executive and migrant workers. If you supervise nonemployees on a daily basis —such as contractors and temporary employees who work for staffing agencies — you must document their injuries and illnesses as well.

Do I have to allow employees to see the forms?
If an employee asks to see the Form 300 log and their own Form 301 incident report, you must comply by the end of the next business day. However, if you have a privacy case — such as one involving sexual assault, HIV infection or mental illness — do not enter the employee's name on the OSHA 300 log. (This will hide the employee's identity from those who request to see the log.) Instead, keep a separate confidential list for employees with privacy cases.

​How long should I keep the forms?
Forms 300, 300A and 301, plus privacy case lists, must be kept for five years.
There's a lot more to these forms than we've covered. For example, employers must also know which employers are exempt from OSHA's recordkeeping requirements and the criteria for submitting injury and illness data electronically.