OSHA Injury Reporting Guidelines
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) is an organization responsible for protecting the health and safety rights of workers. OSHA develops safety standards that must be followed by employers in the U.S. Standard 1904 regulates how accidents, illnesses, and injuries should be recorded and reported to OSHA. Injury reporting is done to improve accountability of employers and workers, and to provide feedback that will help OSHA in developing more effective standards.
Other People Are Reading
-
Recording
-
OSHA has strict standards when it comes to recordable versus non-recordable injuries. Recorded injuries must be tracked in writing, or through the use of OSHA recording software. These injuries can affect the company's safety record and insurance premiums. Unrecorded injuries do not need to be tracked, and do not affect company statistics. According to OSHA, an injury must be recorded if it results in lost work time, restricted performance, loss of consciousness, death, or any treatment beyond basic first aid.
Forms
-
All recordable injuries must be logged on appropriate OSHA forms, which can be downloaded for free at the agency's website. Each individual event should be recorded on the OSHA 301 Incident Report. This form should be completed within seven days of the injury. A summary of all incidents should be tracked on the OSHA 300 log, with a short overview and date listed for each. The year's events should be summarized on the OSHA 300-A annual summary form. Records should be kept for five years, and submitted upon request, or in the event of an OSHA investigation.
-
Reporting Requirements
-
OSHA Standard 1904.39 requires that any incident resulting in either the death of an employee, or the hospitalization of three or more employees be reported immediately. From the time of the incident, the employer or his representative has eight hours to report the incident. If the employer is not aware of the accident when it occurs, he has eight hours from the time he is first made aware to make the report.
How to Make Reports
-
Employers have two options for reporting deaths or multiple hospitalizations. The incident may be reported by phone or in person at a local OSHA branch office. These offices are situated throughout the country, and locations can be found on OSHA's website. Reports can also be made by phone through the central reporting telephone number at (800) 321-OSHA. All reporting must be done orally, though recorded messages are not permitted. Faxing and emailing are not legal means of reporting.
Required Information
-
For each incident that is reported, the employer must provide the company name, as well as the name and phone number of the company safety inspector or representative. The time and location of the incident should be reported, as well as the number of injured employees, along with their names. OSHA will use this information to launch an investigation into the incident to determine if safety rules were correctly followed.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Creative Commons
