Reminder to Employers: It’s Time to Post and/or Submit OSHA Injury Records

This is the first year that the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration’s (OSHA) expanded injury and illness reporting requirements take effect for employers in certain “high-hazard” industries. By March 2, 2024, covered employers will be required to submit “OSHA 300” Logs and “OSHA 301” Incident Reports to OSHA (in addition to the reporting of annual “OSHA 300A” Summaries, which is already required). The agency proposed an earlier version of this rule in 2016, but that version was withdrawn under the Trump Administration in 2017.

OSHA’s new rule implementing this change was issued in July 2023, and it applies to establishments (typically single physical work locations) with 100 or more employees in “high-hazard” industries. These industries are listed in Appendix B to the applicable OSHA regulation and include manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, retail, and wholesale employers, as well as certain health care employers (e.g., hospitals, among others). Employers can use OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA) Coverage Application website to determine whether they are required to electronically submit data to OSHA.

In its press release announcing the new rule, OSHA noted that it will use the information for “strategic outreach and enforcement” aimed at protecting workers in high-hazard industries. OSHA will make data it collects publicly available and searchable online, and the agency believes public access to this information will promote worker health and safety. As we have discussed, this data can also be useful to employers to identify potential risks to workers in their industries, although we note that many employers have expressed concerns about potential misuse of the data.

Employers should be aware that OSHA’s existing requirement for reporting OSHA 300A Summaries remains in place. Specifically, establishments with 20-249 employees in “high-hazard” industries listed in Appendix A to the applicable OSHA regulation — as well as all establishments with 250 or more employees that are required to maintain OSHA 300 Logs — must submit OSHA 300A Summaries annually by March 2.

In addition, all employers required to keep OSHA 300 Logs of employee injuries and illnesses must post their annual OSHA 300A Summaries, which contain information about recordable incidents over the prior year. An OSHA 300A Summary must be certified by a company official and then posted at the workplace from February 1 through April 30. Employers that are partially exempt from OSHA recordkeeping obligations, including in lower-risk industries, are not subject to these requirements.

Disclaimer

This blog is made available by Foley & Lardner LLP (“Foley” or “the Firm”) for informational purposes only. It is not meant to convey the Firm’s legal position on behalf of any client, nor is it intended to convey specific legal advice. Any opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Foley & Lardner LLP, its partners, or its clients. Accordingly, do not act upon this information without seeking counsel from a licensed attorney. This blog is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Communicating with Foley through this website by email, blog post, or otherwise, does not create an attorney-client relationship for any legal matter. Therefore, any communication or material you transmit to Foley through this blog, whether by email, blog post or any other manner, will not be treated as confidential or proprietary. The information on this blog is published “AS IS” and is not guaranteed to be complete, accurate, and or up-to-date. Foley makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation or content of the site. Foley expressly disclaims all other guarantees, warranties, conditions and representations of any kind, either express or implied, whether arising under any statute, law, commercial use or otherwise, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. In no event shall Foley or any of its partners, officers, employees, agents or affiliates be liable, directly or indirectly, under any theory of law (contract, tort, negligence or otherwise), to you or anyone else, for any claims, losses or damages, direct, indirect special, incidental, punitive or consequential, resulting from or occasioned by the creation, use of or reliance on this site (including information and other content) or any third party websites or the information, resources or material accessed through any such websites. In some jurisdictions, the contents of this blog may be considered Attorney Advertising. If applicable, please note that prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Photographs are for dramatization purposes only and may include models. Likenesses do not necessarily imply current client, partnership or employee status.