The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers with more than 10 employees, including the federal government, to keep a record of serious work-related injuries and illnesses.
OSHA requires employers to maintain the OSHA 300 Log, the OSHA 301 Incident Report, and the OSHA 300-A Summary. Employers are required to maintain those records for at least five years. You have the right to the injury and illness records the employer is required to keep.
The records
The OSHA 300 Log Form is used to track workplace injuries or illnesses and includes information such as the nature of the injury or illness, the affected body part, and the job the employee was doing. The employer must record an injury or illness within 7 days of receiving a report.
The OSHA 301 Incident Report Form is used to document details of the injury or illness, such as the circumstances of the incident. Employers must complete this form within 7 days of being notified.
If you have a job-related injury or illness, you can report it to the employer either by using the employer’s Health & Safety incident report or by filing a workers’ compensation claim.
Deadlines for filing can vary by agency, but the general advice is to report injuries and illnesses as soon as possible.
When federal employees file a workers’ compensation (WC) claim (a CA-1 or a CA-2) on ECOMP – the DOL electronic system – both the WC form and the OSHA forms, OSHA 300 Log and OSHA 301, are populated.
Employers are also required to fill out the OSHA 300A Summary, which is a summary of the workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities recorded on the OSHA 300 Log for the past year. Employers are required to post the Summary from February 1 to April 30 in a location where employees easily see it, such as bulletin boards.
You have the right to review your record
According to the OSHA Recordkeeping Rule, 29 CFR 1904, employees, former employees, and their representatives have the right to review the OSHA 300 Log Form and the OSHA 300-A Summary Form.
The representative can be a collective bargaining agent (union rep) or a personal representative of the employee. If requested, the employer must provide a copy of the OSHA 300 Log and the OSHA 300-A Summary by the end of the next business day. The employer may not remove names and other information although some “privacy concern cases” are protected by the Recordkeeping Rule and names will not be listed.
Employees, former employees, or their personal representatives can request a copy of their own OSHA 301 Form and the employer is required to provide it by the next business day.
The union representative can also request the OSHA 301 Forms, but the employer is only required to provide the “Tell us about your case” section. The employer must give the union representative copies of the forms within seven days.
Copies are to be provided free of charge the first time, but employers may charge for additional copies.
You can find more information in 29 CFR 1904.35 at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-1904.35.