OSHA UPDATE: OSHA Annual Summary Posting Due February 1, 2010; Musculoskeletal Entries May be Required Soon

By Rod Smith and Pat Miller

Employers subject to OSHA's recordkeeping rule are required to complete and post the OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, by February 1, 2010. Here are the steps:

• Verify that all entries on the 2009 OSHA 300 Log are correct and complete. Correct any deficiencies.
• Total all columns at the bottom of the OSHA 300 Log. If there are no entries, enter "0". Do not leave any spaces blank.
• Transfer the OSHA 300 Log totals to the Annual Summary, the Form 300A. An Annual Summary must be completed for each OSHA 300 Log maintained.
• Complete the "Establishment and Employment Information," including the average number of employees and total hours worked by all employees in the workplace covered by the Annual Summary. If needed, OSHA provides an optional worksheet to calculate this information. Employers may also use other reasonable methods to calculate the number of employees and hours worked.
• Have a "Company Executive" certify, sign and date the Annual Summary. A "Company Executive" is defined as the owner of the company, an officer of the corporation or the highest ranking manager at the workplace or his or her immediate supervisor.
• Post the signed Annual Summary at the workplace from February 1 through April 30, 2010.

Employers are urged to exercise care in completing the OSHA 300 Log and the Annual Summary. The OSH Act imposes significant penalties for OSHA recordkeeping violations or making false statements, such as those contained in the Annual Summary. By requiring a "Company Executive" to certify that the Annual Summary is true, accurate and complete, OSHA is imposing a higher standard of accountability for the accuracy of employer injury and illness data. 

Data from the Annual Summary is also used to target employers for an OSHA inspection. Under OSHA's Data Initiative standard, selected employers
will be requested to submit information from their Annual Summaries. From this information, OSHA calculates a "DART" rate, defined as the number of recordable cases involving days away from work, restricted work activity or transfer to another job per 100 full-time equivalent employees. Employers with a DART rate over a specified number (as determined in OSHA's recent "Site-Specific Targeting" Notice) will then be put on a list for a comprehensive OSHA inspection. By submitting data from an inaccurate Log or Annual Summary, employers may be inadvertently risking unnecessary OSHA inspections, citations and penalties.  Employers should be increasingly vigilant this year, as OSHA has recently instituted a National Emphasis Program focusing on recordkeeping.

Also, in a recent development, OSHA has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking which would reinstate, as a separate entry on 300 logs, the requirement to submit information on musculoskeletal injuries.  While OSHA claims that it is merely reinstating this entry, which it says was originally intended in 2001, industry groups are concerned that OSHA's effort is an attempt to reassert its attempt at regulating ergonomic issues.

OSHA 300 Log and other information about OSHA's recordkeeping requirements are available on OSHA's website at www.osha.gov.

Rodney Smith, Pat Miller, and Chuck Newcom are part of Sherman and Howard's Labor & Employment Law Department practicing in the areas of occupational safety and health law. We routinely appear before the federal Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, and state occupational safety and health boards.

For more information please contact one of the members of the OSHA Practice Group.