Last week, Nextep sent a Compliance Notice to clients that each worksite must post the OSHA 300A Summary of Workplace Injuries from February 1 until April 30. In addition, OSHA requires that companies maintain Form 300, the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, which lists each work-related injury and illness that the company has experienced during the year.

This is simply a company log, and does not require the extensive information and paperwork that goes into each workers' compensation injury. When an incident occurs, use the Form 300 Log to record specific details about what happened and how. This information can be used at the end of each year to complete the injuries section on the left side of the OSHA Form 300A Summary.

OSHA requires that each worksite location maintain the Form 300 Log. If your company has more than one establishment or site, you must keep separate records for each physical location that is expected to remain in operation for one year or longer.

While Form 300 Log should not be posted, CFR 1904.35 does require that employees have the right to review it. For this reason, it is important that while specific injuries must be recorded on Form 300, the employee's name should not be included if it involves private health information, including work-related mental illness, HIV infection, or any other illness where the employee requests his or her name be kept confidential.

The Forms 300 and 300A will not be submitted to OSHA unless specifically requested, but must be kept at your worksite for at least five years following the year they summarize. An electronic version of these forms with additional information from OSHA can also be found at nextep.com in the Client Resource Center of Webstep.

For questions on completing your worksite’s OSHA 300 Log, please contact risk@nextep.com.