Hospital-wide Hazards » Recordkeeping

Requirements under OSHA's Rule for Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illness, 29 CFR Part 1904

Under the OSHA Rule for Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (the Recordkeeping rule, 29 CFR Part 1904), covered employers are required to keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses at their establishments. Employers covered by these rules must record each recordable employee injury and illness on an OSHA Form 300, "Log of Work-related Injuries and Illnesses", or equivalent. Employers must also prepare a supplementary OSHA Form 301, "Injury and Illness Incident Report" or equivalent that provides additional details about each case recorded on the 300 Log. Finally, at the end of each year, employers are required to prepare a summary report of all injuries and illnesses on the OSHA Form 300A, which is the "Summary of Work-related Injuries and Illnesses", and post the form in a visible location in the workplace. These forms are available on OSHA's website.

The information in these records is important for employers, workers and OSHA in evaluating the safety and health of a workplace, understanding industry hazards, and implementing worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards. The records can be a useful part of a thorough worksite hazard analysis to assess the health and safety needs of facilities and to evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions. The records can be used to identify tasks and jobs with higher risks of injury and illness, to monitor trends and to gauge the effectiveness of intervention efforts.

Updates to OSHA's Recordkeeping Rule, 29 CFR Part 1904

OSHA's updated recordkeeping rule, which took effect January 1, 2015, expands the list of severe injuries that all employers must report to OSHA. According to the updated Recordkeeping rule, employers have to report the following to OSHA:

  • All work-related fatalities, within 8 hours of finding out about them;
  • All work-related inpatient hospitalizations, within 24 hours of finding out about them;
  • All work-related amputations, within 24 hours of finding out about them; and
  • All work-related losses of an eye, within 24 hours of finding out about them.

Employers have three options for reporting the event:

The Recordkeeping Rule and Tuberculosis

  • The Recordkeeping rule, 29 CFR 1904.11, outlines the criteria for determining whether tuberculosis cases are work-related for recordkeeping purposes under the rule:
    • If any of the employer's employees has been occupationally exposed to anyone with a known case of active tuberculosis, and that employee subsequently develops a tuberculosis infection, as evidenced by a positive skin test or diagnosis by a physician or other licensed healthcare professional, the employer must record the case on the OSHA 300 Log by checking the "respiratory condition" column.
    • Under certain circumstances, listed in the Recordkeeping rule, the employer may line out or erase a recorded TB case from the Log, if the employer obtains evidence that the case was not caused by occupational exposure. These circumstances include, and are limited to, the following:
      • The worker is living in a household with a person who has been diagnosed with active TB;
      • The Public Health Department has identified the worker as a contact of an individual with a case of active TB unrelated to the workplace; or
      • A medical investigation shows that the employee's infection was caused by exposure to TB away from work, or proves that the case was not related to the workplace TB exposure.
    • An employer does not have to record, on the Log, a positive TB skin test result obtained at a pre-employment physical, as the employee was not occupationally exposed to a known case of active tuberculosis in the employer's workplace.

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