The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires most employers to prepare and maintain records of occupational injuries and illnesses as they occur (I&I Logs). OSHA also requires employers to post an annual I&I Summary in each “establishment” within their workplaces by February 1, summarizing that workplace’s I&Is during the previous calendar year. Delegated state-run programs impose comparable requirements. (I summarized these requirements here). Most of this information remains with employers and their employees, so it never gets used for analyses of workplace trends or to help OSHA evaluate areas where additional regulations might be most helpful.
OSHA is now expanding requirements that some employers submit I&I information routinely. These new requirements add to OSHA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) authority to require employers to submit I&I data – which has been used sparingly for high-hazard industries and some general statistics-gathering (OSHA has required prompt reporting of hospitalizations and deaths -- I blogged about recent revisions here).
What Are the New Requirements For Electronic I&I Submissions?
Effective January 1, 2017, OSHA provides for electronic submission of required I&I records to OSHA, as follows:
- All establishments with 250 or more employees at any time during a year
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All establishments in designated industries with 20 or more employees (but fewer than 250) at any time during a year
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Any other establishment specifically notified by OSHA or an OSHA designee to report.
To calculate number of employees, you must include each individual employed in the establishment at any time during the calendar year, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers.
These requirements apply in states where OSHA is your regulator, and in state plan states. OSHA is requiring state plan states to adopt comparable requirements. OSHA will provide a secure website for submission of this information, but has not yet done so as of early June 2016.
- What requirement apply to establishments with 250 or more employees?
Each establishment that is subject to the I&I Standard and which has 250 or more total employees at any time during a year must submit information from required record keeping forms electronically, subject to the following omissions of individually-identifiable information:
- Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) – omit employee names (column B)
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Form 300-A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) – submit all information
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Form 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report) – omit employee name (field 1), employee address (field 2), name of physician or other health care professional (field 6), facility name and address if treatment was given away from worksite (field 7).
OSHA is phasing in these requirements as follows:
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2017 (2016 data) – submit July 1, 2017; only Form 300-A information is required
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2018 (2017 data) - submit July 1, 2018; all information is required
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2019 (2018 data) and subsequent years- submit March 2; all information is required.
- What requirements apply to establishments with 20 - 249 employees?
An establishment that is subject to the I&I Standard, which has 20-249 total employees at any time during a year, and is assigned to one of 67 specific “high risk” industries (a broad range of industrial, services, and agricultural activities, defined by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code) is required to submit all information contained in Form 300-A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses).
OSHA is phasing in these requirements as follows:
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2017 (2016 data) – submit July 1, 2017
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2018 (2017 data) - submit July 1, 2018
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2019 (2018 data) and subsequent years - submit March 2.
- What requirements might apply to employers targeted individually by OSHA?
In addition to the categories discussed above, OSHA may specifically require any other establishment that is subject to I&I recording and reporting requirements to provide I&I information electronically. OSHA can request any or all information that is already required to be recorded.
OSHA will notify each such establishment directly by mail. OSHA will also announce individual data collections through publication in the Federal Register, OSHA’s newsletter, and announcements on the OSHA Web site.
Self-Assessment Checklist
Does my organization have one or more establishments subject to I&I recording and posting requirements?
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Does my organization have procedures in place for reporting injuries and illnesses that occur in a workplace or during work-related activities?
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Are work-related I&I compiled for each establishment?
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Has each establishment prepared an I&I Summary covering each workplace for 2015?
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Has each establishment posted its annual I&I Summary?
Where can I go for more information?
• OSHA Recordkeeping webpage
• OSHA webpage for electronic submission requirements
• OSHA’s new electronic reporting requirements (Federal Register version)
Specialty Technical Publishers (STP) provides a variety of single-law and multi-law services, intended to facilitate clients’ understanding of and compliance with requirements. These include:
About the Author
Jon Elliott is President of Touchstone Environmental and has been a major contributor to STP’s product range for over 25 years. He was involved in developing 12 existing products, including Environmental Compliance: A Simplified National Guide and The Complete Guide to Environmental Law.
Mr. Elliott has a diverse educational background. In addition to his Juris Doctor (University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1981), he holds a Master of Public Policy (Goldman School of Public Policy [GSPP], UC Berkeley, 1980), and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Princeton University, 1977).
Mr. Elliott is active in professional and community organizations. In addition, he is a past chairman of the Board of Directors of the GSPP Alumni Association, and past member of the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California's Environmental Law Section (including past chair of its Legislative Committee).
You may contact Mr. Elliott directly at: tei@ix.netcom.com.