• OSHA

  All You Need To Know About OSHA Form 301

  Posted by Larry Green on October 25, 2022 at 1:54 pm

  What is the OSHA Form 301?

  You must use OSHA 300, 300-A, and 301 forms, or equivalent forms, for recordable injuries and illnesses. The OSHA 300 form is called the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, the 300-A is the Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, and the OSHA 301 form is called the Injury and Illness Incident Report.<div>

  
  

  What Information Must Be Entered on OSHA Form 301?

  To create a complete record of an incident, OSHA Form 301 asks for a variety of information, including:

  • Basic information about the employee, such as name, address, and when hired
  • The date and time of the incident
  • What the employee was doing just before the incident
  • How the injury or illness occurred
  • What part of the body was affected
  • Any object or substance that directly harmed the employee during the incident
  • Name of healthcare provider
  • Where treatment was given
  • Whether the employee was hospitalized
  • The date of death if the employee passed away

  When Should You Complete OSHA Form 301?

  You must complete the Injury and Illness Incident Report within seven calendar days after you receive information that a recordable work-related injury or illness has occurred at your work place.

  Remember, our earlier blog post will help you determine if an injury or illness is work-related and recordable. You’ll also want to decide if this is a new case or a recurring case. Read 1904.6, Determination of New Cases, for more information on this.

  Don’t forget that in addition to these requirements, OSHA expects employers to very quickly report to OSHA when a work-related fatality or severe injury has occurred. Any fatality must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours, and any in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye must be reported to OSHA within 24 hours. To report these, you can:

  • Call the nearest OSHA office
  • Call OSHA’s 24-hour hotline at 1-800-321-6742
  • Use OSHA’s Online Severe Event Reporting Form

  Can You Fill Out Other Forms Instead?

  In some cases, OSHA will consider forms that you fill out for state workers’ compensation, insurance, or other reports “equivalent” to Form 301. To be considered equivalent, the alternate form must include all of the information that’s included on OSHA’s Form 301.

  How Long Must You Keep the Completed Form 301 on Record?

  For at least five years following the year in which the incident occurred.

  Is The Information on the Form 301 Confidential?

  According to a note on the form:

  “This form contains information relating to employee health and must be used in a manner that protects the confidentiality of employers to the extent possible while the information is being used for occupational safety and health purposes.”

  In addition, OSHA instructions for filling out the form say

  “If you have a reasonable basis to believe that information describing the privacy concern case may be personally identifiable even though the employee’s name has been omitted, you may use discretion in describing the injury or illness on both the OSHA 300 and 301 forms. You must enter enough information to identify the cause of the incident and the general severity of the injury or illness, but you do not need to include details of an intimate or private nature.”

  (This may make more sense once you’ve read about “privacy cases” when filling out Form 300.)

  Any Tips That Would Help Fill Out the Form?

  Most of the form is pretty self-explanatory. But, it does help to know that when item 10 asks you to fill in the “Case number from the Log,” it is referring to the case number for the injury or illness once it’s recorded in OSHA’s Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.

  Once you complete Form 301, you will then go ahead and complete Form 300. At that point, you can take the case number from Form 300 and record it in line 10 of Form 301.

  See future blog posts for more information about Form 300, the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses; and Form 300A, the Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.

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  Larry Green replied 2 years ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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