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HR Support on Reporting Illness Injury at Work

Editor's Note: Employers have a legal obligation to report certain workplace injuries and illnesses.

Melissa BoyceOverview: OSHA requires employers to report workplace fatalities within eight hours of the incident. All in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees, amputations and losses of eyes must be reported to OSHA within 24 hours of the incident. Reports must be made either in person, over the phone or via OSHA's website.

States that have their own OSH plan must be at least as strict as federal OSHA; however, they might be stricter. An employer in a state with an approved state plan might need to report workplace injuries and illnesses to the state agency. However, they might have less time to report or they might have to report less serious injuries and illnesses than required under federal law.

Injuries and illnesses should also be reported to workers' compensation agencies within time frames established by state law. What must be reported and how it should be reported will vary depending on the state.

Employers with more than 10 employees must record injuries and illnesses on OSHA Form 300, Form 300A and Form 301. Form 300A must be posted in the workplace every February 1 through April 30.

Trends: New regulations require employers to electronically report workplace injury and illness data to OSHA, beginning in 2017. OSHA plans to make this data public on its website with employees' personally identifying information redacted.

Author: Melissa Gonzalez Boyce, JD, Legal Editor

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HR guidance on complying with OSHA’s injury and illness reporting (form 300) requirements.

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