OSHA Form 301

What is OSHA Form 301? 

OSHA Form 301 stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 301. It is also known as the “Injury and Illness Incident Report” which employers must fill out when there is any recordable work-related injury, illness, or death that occurs. OSHA Form 301 is found within OSHA Form 300 which is used to log and classify all injuries, illnesses, or death in the workplace. Employers are required to complete an OSHA Form 301 for each recordable incident logged on OSHA Form 300. 

What type of incidents must be documented on OSHA Form 301? 

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), employers must document all injuries and illnesses related to an employee’s work that happens on the job, or directly caused or contributed to by any event or exposure at work. 

Recordable work-related illnesses and injuries are those that involve: 

• Death
• Injuries that cause loss of consciousness, missed workdays, decreased work activity, job transfer, or injuries requiring medical treatment beyond first aid
• Diagnosed cancer, irreversible chronic conditions, punctured eardrums, broken teeth or bones
• Needlestick injury or cut from a sharp object that is contaminated with another person’s blood or infectious material

Minor injuries that require minimal first aid, such as an ice pack or a bandage, do not have to be documented. 

Who is required to complete OSHA Form 301? 

If you are an employer with more than ten employees, you are required to keep a record of serious work-related illnesses and injuries. You must complete OSHA Form 301. This also applies to those businesses belonging to high-risk industries. 

However, according to OSHA, some businesses are exempt from this requirement if they belong to certain industries that are considered low-risk. They are not required to complete OSHA Form 301 unless they are asked to complete one in writing by OSHA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), or any state agency under the OSHA or BLS. For employers, you can head to the OSHA website to see the list of industries.

Please note though that all employers, no matter what industry, must report to OSHA any workplace-related death, in-patient hospitalization, loss of an eye, or amputation. Any incident under these categories must be reported within 24 hours except for a fatality which must be reported within 8 hours. To report, employers may call the OSHA office nearest to them, call the OSHA hotline at 1-800-321-6742 (OSHA), or complete the OSHA’S Serious Event Reporting Online Form. 

What are the pieces of information that are entered on an OSHA Form 301? 

The following information will be asked in filling out an OSHA Form 301:

• Information about the employee such as full name, address, date of birth, and date of hire
• Information about the physician or health care professional
• Where the employee received treatment
• If the employee as hospitalized
• Date and time of the incident
• Time employee began work
• What the employee was doing just before the incident
• How the injury occurred
• What body part was affected
• What object or substance directly harmed the employee
• Date of death if the employee passed away;

When must employers complete OSHA Form 301? 

Employers need to complete OSHA Form 301 within seven calendar days upon learning that a recordable injury or illness has occurred. This timeframe is applicable unless the case falls under serious event reporting as mentioned above. 

Employers have the option to fill out an equivalent form in place of an OSHA Form 301. An equivalent form is a document that contains the same information and uses the same instructions as OSHA Form 301. Additionally, this equivalent form must also be readable and understandable. Some examples of equivalent forms are state workers’ compensation and insurance.

How long must employers keep OSHA Form 301 records? 

As per OSHA’s recordkeeping rule, employers must safely keep OSHA Form 301s for five years after the year that the incident occurred.