New OSHA Tracking Requirements
Effective January 1, 2004
Effective January 1, 2004, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration
(OSHA) added a new tracking requirement. Occupational hearing loss must now be
tracked.
In addition, OSHA has modified forms 300 and 300A. These new forms must be
submitted beginning in 2005. For 2004 the current OSHA forms 300 and 300A
should be used.
Additional Information on OSHA
In general, the Occupational Health and Safety Act covers all employers and
their employees in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and
other U.S. territories. Coverage is provided either directly by the federal
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or by an OSHA-approved
state job safety and health plan. Employees of the U.S. Postal Service also are
covered.
Every employer covered by OSHA who has more than 10 employees, except for
employers in certain low-hazard industries in the retail, finance, insurance,
real estate, and service sectors, must maintain three types of OSHA-specified
records of job-related injuries and illnesses.
The OSHA Form 300 is an injury/illness log, with a separate line
entry for each recordable injury or illness. Such events include work-related
deaths, injuries and illnesses other than minor injuries that require only
first aid treatment and that do not involve medical treatment, loss of
consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to another job.
Each year, employers must post a summary of the OSHA Form 300 on a Form
300A, which includes the previous year's injuries and illnesses, in the
workplace from February through April.
OSHA Form 301 is an individual incident report that provides added detail
about each specific recordable injury or illness. A suitable insurance or
workers' compensation form that provides the same details may be substituted
for OSHA Form 301.
More information on OSHA requirements is available at the following web
site: http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/guide/osha.htm
