WASHINGTON - Starting this month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is requiring employers to post a summary of the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred last year.
Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in certain industry groups are normally exempt from federal OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping and posting requirements. A complete list of exempt industries in the retail, services, finance and real estate sectors is posted on OSHA's website.
Under the new requirement, employers are required to post only the summary of injuries and illnesses (OSHA Form 300A). The complete injury log (OSHA Form 300 Log) does not have to be posted.
The summary lists the total numbers of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred last year and were logged on the OSHA 300 form. Employment information about annual average number of employees and total hours worked during the year also is required to assist in calculating incidence rates.
Companies with no recordable injuries or illnesses last year must post the form with zeros on the total line. All summaries must be certified by a company executive.
The form is to be displayed in a common area wherever notices to employees are usually posted. Employers must make a copy of the summary available to employees who move from worksite to worksite, such as construction workers, and employees who do not report to any fixed establishment on a regular basis.
While exempted employers don't have post the injury summary they may still be selected by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics to participate in an annual statistical survey.
All employers covered by OSHA need to comply with safety and health standards and must report verbally within eight hours to the nearest OSHA office all accidents that result in one ore more fatalities or in the hospitalization of three or more employees.
Copies of the OSHA forms are available on the OSHA Recordkeeping Web page in either Adobe PDF or Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet format. Go to www.osha.gov.