OSHA 300 Reporting Requirement Changes

Beginning in 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) now requires all employers to submit work-related injury and illness data electronically. Form 300 is designed to encourage more accident reports, which allows OSHA to better enforce standards and help workplaces reduce their occupational injury and illness incidents.

In the past, employers often didn’t submit injury and illness data — and in some cases even forbade the injured employee from contacting OSHA. The new rule prohibits employers from discouraging workers from reporting injuries or illnesses and sets up anti-retaliation protections for workers.

Simplifying your OSHA Form 300 reports can streamline your workflow and make submitting reports easier. Here’s what you should know.

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What Is OSHA Form 300?

OSHA Form 300 is a form used by employers to record and report work-related injuries and illnesses. It’s part of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) recordkeeping requirements for employers.

The form is used to track injuries and illnesses that occur in the workplace and to ensure that employers are aware of any potential hazards. It includes information such as the date of the injury or illness, the employee’s job title, the nature of the injury or illness, and the number of days the employee was away from work.

Employers with more than 10 employees are required to keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses using OSHA Form 300. The form is filled out on an ongoing basis throughout the year, and a summary of the information must be posted in the workplace from February 1 to April 30.

It’s important for employers to accurately and promptly fill out this form to ensure that they comply with OSHA regulations and to help identify any safety or health hazards in the workplace.

Why Are Employers Required To Submit Accident and Illness Reports?

OSHA’s ultimate goal is to reduce the incidences of workplace injury and illness, whether through outreach with certain employers or enforcing its standards.

OSHA first stated in May 2016 that employers would have to electronically submit the workplace injury and illness data and that the data would be posted publicly. By requiring employers to submit Form 300 data electronically — and protecting workers through these new regulations — they receive accurate data faster and can make changes as necessary.

But why does it matter?

The same violations and accident types top the 2022 statistics. OSHA knows that employers are likely to underreport accident statistics for fear of penalties and fines. The newer reporting rules ensure consequences are worse for employers who fail to report accidents and illnesses.

Fortunately, there’s good news: these accident reports have led to safer workplaces!

For example, from 2011 to 2021, fall injuries continued to increase each year; 2022 was the first year OSHA started to see a decline. By parsing the data collected from injury reports, the agency was able to determine which violations were most common. In turn, they made adjustments to their workplace safety guidelines, outreach, and enforcement policies. Ultimately, this has benefitted both workers (fewer injuries and better employment protections) and employers (fewer days missed at work means less need for workers’ compensation benefits).

By making injury data and trends available to the public, the agency hopes to force employers to focus on safety. The overall goal is to improve the accuracy of data reporting — and at the same time ensure that workers will not fear any retaliation for self-reporting their injuries.

Reporting Injury and Illness Through Form 300

Per the rule that went into effect on January 1, 2017, employers are required to record all reportable workplace injuries and illnesses, along with:

• Where and when the injury occurred
• The nature of the accident
• Name and job title of the injured or ill employee
• Number of days away from work or on restricted/light duty

Furthermore, employers must record all new cases of work-related injuries when they involve:

• Death or dismemberment
• Time away from work
• Restricted work or job transfer
• Medical treatment beyond first aid
• Loss of consciousness
• Significant injury or illness

The injuries and illnesses must be recorded both on the OSHA 300 Log and the Form 301 incident report within seven days after the employer is notified of the injury or illness.

This OSHA rule also prohibits employers from preventing or discouraging the employee from reporting an illness or an injury suffered at work. Employers must inform the employee of their right to report any work-related injury or illness free from any retaliation.

OSHA reports can be made through their secure websites. There are three options to report the data: manually enter it into the website, upload a CSV file to add multiple establishments at the same time, or send data through an application programming interface (API).

Use MedTrainer To Submit Your OSHA Form 300 Data

MedTrainer is ideal for submitting OSHA Form 300 reports. First, having one unified platform for all compliance tasks streamlines your processes. When you include incident reporting in the same platform, employees are better equipped to log both the incident report and the OSHA form for workplace injuries and illnesses. If your employee doesn’t log them both at the same time, it’s easy to pull a report of all workplace injuries and illnesses to add to the OSHA log.

Second, this saves time by automating your OSHA 300 data (including the log and appropriate forms). Instead of having someone manually update the data each time there’s a revised incident report form, MedTrainer simplifies the process and updates everything automatically. This saves time and money for employers, protects both employers and employees, and ensures that OSHA gets the data they need in a timely manner.

MedTrainer’s software includes everything you need to make OSHA injury and illness reports, including:

• OSHA inspection form
• OSHA Form 300: Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
• Form 300A: Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
• Form 301: Injuries and Illnesses Incident Report

For more information about how MedTrainer can streamline your OSHA 300 submissions, reach out and schedule a product demo today.