As we mentioned in an earlier posting this month, the Department of Labor visited at least one cotton gin under a site-specific targeting program inspection. The OSHA inspector was given a listing of facilities and asked to look at OSHA 300 and 300A forms and the DART rate for those companies.
A specific issue came up during this inspection regarding when to record an injury on the OSHA 300 forms. You are only required to record an item on the OSHA 300 form if the accident/injury/illness is work related and involves loss of consciousness, restricted work activity or job transfer, days away from work or medical treatment beyond first aid OR a significant work-related injury/illness that is diagnosed by a physician or licensed health care provider. A small injury that is treated with your first aid kit or does not result in any time off the shift does not need to be recorded on the OSHA 300. If you decide to report the injury/illness to your workers compensation carrier to be safe, that is fine. However, reporting an incident to your workers comp carrier as a precaution and recording something on your OSHA 300 are two very different things.
If you have any questions regarding your OSHA 300’s, please contact us.
