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Instructions for Forms 300, 300A, 301 (Instructions ONLY) - PDF Fillable Format*
Forms 300, 300A, 301 (Forms ONLY) - PDF Fillable Format*
Forms 300, 300A, 301 and Instructions*
Forms 300, 300A, 301 (Forms ONLY)*
Forms 300, 300A, 301 Excel format (Forms ONLY)*
Employers must post injury and illness summaries now through April.
OSHA reminds employers of their obligation to post a copy of OSHA's Form 300A, which summarizes job-related injuries and illnesses logged during 2015. The summary must be displayed in a common area where notices to employees are usually posted each year between Feb. 1 and April 30.
Businesses with 10 or fewer employees and those in certain low-hazard industries are exempt from OSHA recordkeeping and posting requirements. As of Jan. 1, 2015, certain previously exempt industries are now covered. Lists of both exempt and newly covered industries are available on OSHA's website. Visit OSHA's Recordkeeping Rule webpage for more information on recordkeeping requirements.
What Are Forms 300, 300A, and 301 For?
OSHA requires that nearly all employers maintain properly-recorded accounts of work-related injuries and illnesses. Applicable instances would be any that involve an employee while at work that meets OSHA’s general recording requirements (1904.7). Additional recording criteria would include, according to OSHA, needlestick and sharps injury cases, tuberculosis cases, hearing loss cases, medical removal cases, and musculoskeletal disorder cases.
Some employers are exempt from this regulation, such as those with ten employees or less. In addition, while forms 301, 300, and 300A are the general forms required, appropriate substitute forms (such as workers’ comp or insurance provider forms) may be acceptable providing at least every piece of information covered in OSHA’s forms is also covered in the substitutes.
Injury report forms involve private health information on related employees, and that privacy must be respected with confidentiality.
Form 301 – Injury and Illness Incident Report
This is the first form you fill out during the recording process. It must be completed and filed within seven calendar days after an accident has been identified or announced.
OSHA requires you to keep 301 forms on file for at least five years following the year the accident occurred.
Form 301 is generally very straightforward, asking for direct employee information such as his/her name, address, doctor information, and any injury or illness treatment. More complicated information is line item 10, which asks for a case number (this is related to Form 300, which we will cover shortly), and items 14-17, which ask the following:
- What was the employee doing just before the incident occurred? (describe the equipment involved as well as the work activities being performed beforehand)
- What happened? (explain the events that led to the injury or illness)
- What was the injury or illness? (describe the location as well as the nature and severity of the injury or illness)
- What object or substance directly harmed the employee? (what physically caused the injury)
Answer fully; this information may not only go under review by a future OSHA investigation, but will assist employers in identifying the source of workplace accidents and adjusting safety programs and procedures accordingly.
Form 300 – Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
Form 300 is a comprehensive, organized log of injuries and illnesses that occur on your worksite throughout the calendar year. Again, this form not only serves to comply with OSHA recording regulations, but also gives employers a compact, visual narrative of workplace accidents that may end up becoming a crucial element in finding patterns and implementing new or adjusted safety programs.
At first glance, Form 300 isn’t quite as simplistic as Form 301; a lot of lines to fill out and boxes to check may seem confusing. Upon closer inspection, however, the form has been designed as a series of rows and columns, each row pertaining to a single injury or illness case. Where descriptive information is required (columns A-F), you may need to occupy more than one line per case if there isn’t enough room.
Case Number
Generate a case number, following numerical order as new injuries or illnesses occur throughout the year. It’s best to use 2 or 3 digits (01 or 001).
- Employee’s name
- Job title
- Date of either the injury or the onset of the illness
- Where the event occurred. Be specific.
- Describe the injury or illness in its entirety, including the nature of the injury or illness, the affected body part, and what exactly caused it.
The next column asks you to check ONE box (G-J), indicating the most severe result of the injury or illness — death, days away from work, job transfer or restriction, or other recordable cases.
Items K and L in the next column are for recording K: how many days the injury or illness kept the employee from work, and L: how many days the employee ended up spending on restrictions or a job transfer.
The final column is where you check the nature of the injury or illness from six options: injury, skin disorder, respiratory condition, poisoning, hearing loss, or other.
After you’ve reached the end of a 300 form, calculate and document the totals under each item in the last three columns.
Form 300A – Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
OSHA requires that every employer complete a 300A form at the end of each calendar year, regardless of whether or not a work-related injury or illness has occurred.
The summary is essentially as simple as adding and filling in the yearly total of the totals you documented at the bottom of Form 300. On the right side of the form, you are required to enter your vital company information, including employment information.
Follow these instructions to determine your average number of employees throughout the year, (The following information can also be found on the back of Form 300A.)
- Add the total number of employees that have been paid over all pay periods throughout the year. Include every type of employee, from full-time to seasonal.
- Determine the number of pay periods your company had during the year, even those where no employees were paid.
- Divide the total number of employees by the number of pay periods and round the result up to the next highest whole number.
In figuring the total number of employee hours worked during the year, there is a little more basic mathematics to do if you don’t have these numbers available.
- Multiply the number of full-time employees in your company by the number of hours a full-time employee works. Remember to factor in any employees who were not employed for the full duration of the calendar year.
- Do the same for all other employees, such as part-time, salaried, seasonal, etc.
- Add the totals together to find the total number of employee hours worked during the year.
What Happens If You Don't Record Workplace Injuries?
Although OSHA does not issue citations for minor reporting and recording violations, the Agency does cite and fine employers when it encounters serious or willful injury and illness recordkeeping problems.
The story of Auto Parts Manufacturing Corporation is an example of one instance where OSHA imposed four willful violations with $120,000 in proposed fines for inadequate injury and illness recordkeeping.