Final Rule Issued to Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses
What does the rule require?
- Establishments with 100 or more employees in designated high-hazard industries (listed in Appendix B to Subpart E of 29 CFR Part 1904) must electronically submit to OSHA detailed information about each recordable injury and illness entered on their previous calendar year’s OSHA Form 300 Log and Form 301 Incident Report (29 CFR 1904.41). This includes the date, physical location, and severity of the injury or illness; details about the worker who was injured; and details about how the injury or illness occurred.
- All the establishments required to submit information from their OSHA Form 300 Log and OSHA Form 301 Incident Report to OSHA under this rule are already required to collect and retain this information, and are currently required to electronically submit to OSHA information from their OSHA Form 300A Annual Summary.
- The rule did not affect the existing requirement for establishments with 20 to 249 employees in certain industries (listed in Appendix A to subpart E of 29 CFR Part 1904) to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A Annual Summary to OSHA once a year.
- The rule retains the requirement for establishments with 250+ employees in industries that must routinely keep records to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A Annual Summary.
- Each establishment must provide their legal company name when submitting their data.
Why is OSHA collecting these data?
- Access to establishment-specific, case-specific injury and illness data will help the agency identify establishments with specific hazards. This will enable the agency to interact directly with these establishments, through enforcement and/or outreach activities, to address and abate the hazards and improve worker safety and health. These same data will also allow OSHA to better analyze injury trends related to specific industries, processes or hazards. The collection and publication of data from Forms 300 and 301 will not only increase the amount of information available for analysis but will also result in more accurate statistics regarding work-related injuries and illnesses, including more detailed statistics on injuries and illnesses for specific occupations and industries.
- Public access to establishment-specific, case-specific injury and illness data will allow employers, employees, potential employees, employee representatives, customers, potential customers, and the general public to make more informed decisions about workplace safety and health at a given establishment. In addition, researchers will be better able to identify patterns of injuries, illnesses, and hazardous conditions in workplaces. OSHA believes this access will ultimately result in the reduction of occupational injuries and illnesses.
How will electronic submission work?
- OSHA has provided a secure website, the Injury Tracking Application (ITA), that offers three options for data submission. First, users are able to manually enter data into a webform. Second, users are able to upload a CSV file to process single or multiple establishments at the same time. Last, users of automated recordkeeping systems will have the ability to transmit data electronically via an API (application programming interface). The ITA is accessible from the ITA launch page, where you are able to provide the Agency your OSHA Form 300A information. The date by which covered employers are required to submit to OSHA the information from their completed Form 300 and Form 301 is March 2nd of the year after the calendar year covered by the forms.
OSHA has published a final rule requiring certain establishments to electronically submit to OSHA detailed information about each recordable injury and illness entered on their previous calendar year's OSHA 300 Log and 301 Incident Report forms (29 CFR 1904.41). This includes the date, physical location, and severity of the injury or illness; details about the worker who was injured; and details about how the injury or illness occurred. Only establishments with 100 or more employees, in designated industries listed in Appendix B to Subpart E of 29 CFR Part 1904, are required to submit this detailed information. One way for establishments to determine whether they are required to submit these data is by using OSHA’s ITA Coverage Application.