What you need to do by February 1st
It is easy to overlook in the hustle and bustle of the New Year, but qualifying employers in Oregon are under a looming compliance deadline. In a perfect world you would have perfectly clean injury and incident records, so posting your annual OSHA 300A summary form would be a breeze. But in reality, that is not always the case.
When injuries happen, the focus is rightly on making sure the injured employee gets necessary treatment. Unfortunately, the completing the incident log is forgotten in real-time. But recordkeeping matters. Wait too long to collect incident details and it can get pretty hazy. Knowing what happened—and why—can be crucial to better controlling hazards in your workplace. Good recordkeeping can help focus your risk reduction efforts. It also helps OSHA track national injury trends. Depending on your situation, recordkeeping may even be required by OR-OSHA.
What even is an OSHA 300A summary?
OR-OSHA offers several resources for employers, including downloadable OSHA 300 and 300A forms. The OSHA 300 log is where employers collect the confidential details of each recordable safety injury and incident at the workplace. The OSHA 300A form summarizes the incidents that meet criteria for posting.
Am I required to post my workplace incident records?
Most employers are required to complete and display the OSHA 300A summary form, even if no work-related injuries or illnesses occurred during the year. However, employers with 10 or fewer employees, as well as businesses in some low-hazard industries, are exempt from the OR-OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping requirements.
What am I required to post? And where?
You only need to post the OSHA 300A summary form for your workplace, not the detailed log.
The summary form should be posted in a common area where other notices to employees are posted. Often this is a bulletin board in the employee breakroom. As the employer, it is your responsibility to make sure the OSHA 300A form remains visibly posted from February 1 through April 30 (of the year following the date of the records). Be sure to keep all your OSHA forms on file for five years.
Need help filling out the forms? Complete instructions are available from OR-OSHA. Your workers compensation insurance provider may also have training available.
What else should I do?
The OSHA 300 log form typically contains information that should be kept confidential. But don’t just put it in a file at the end of the year. Take some time to analyze your detailed incident records to improve your workplace safety practices. One way to achieve perfect OSHA recordkeeping is to build a strong safety culture that helps prevent the injuries from the start.
Not sure if this applies to your small business, send us a note. We’d be happy to help.
Yours in success,
Rebecca
Rebecca Wale
Chief Safety Consultant
Rebecca is the Chief Safety Consultant of Integrated Success HR Consulting & Coaching, LLC. She has extensive credentials and experience as an Environmental Health and Safety/Risk Management professional and leader across a variety of industries. Her background in for-profit, non-profit and governmental organizations, and as a former OSHA compliance officer, means Rebecca knows how to design cost-effective programs that really work. Rebecca’s passion is translating her vast experience into straight-forward programs for busy leaders.
