Reminder: Its time to post your OSHA 300A Summary

It’s time to post your Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 300A(not the OSHA 300 log), the summary of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred last year. The OSHA Form 300A summary must list the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2011 and were logged on the OSHA 300 form.

Additional information about your annual average number of employees and total hours they worked during the calendar year also is required to help the agency calculate incidence rates. Even if you had no recordable injuries or illnesses for 2011, you still must post the OSHA Form 300A, listing zeros on the total line. The summary form must be signed by a company executive and placed in a conscpicuous location where employees can easily view it.  Most employers post their 300A Summary next to their OSHA and Wage Posters.

If you have 10 or fewer employees or fall within one of the industries normally excused from the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s (OSH Act) recordkeeping and posting requirements, you’re required to post OSHA Form 300A ) annually from February 1 to April 30.

A complete list of exempted industries in the retail, services, finance, and real estate sectors is posted on OSHA’s website along with pdf copies of the necessary forms which can be downloaded at www.osha.gov.

You can find copies of the OSHA Form 300A at OSHA’s recordkeeping webpage along with the OSHA Recordkeeping Handbook, which answers frequently asked questions and provides other information that will help you comply with your recordkeeping obligations.

Additionally, You must retain 5 years of past OSHA 300 logs.  So that means you should have 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007 OSHA logs on file at your location.

OSHA says that you dont have to keep updating old logs, or the 300A summary once you post it. But you do have to start a new log for 2012 and keep it up to date throughout the year. 

One final note: Even if you’re excused from the recordkeeping requirements, all employers must report any  fatal accident or accidents involving the inpatient hospitalization of three or more employees.nearest OSHA office within eight hours.