Safety Tidbit #1 OSHA 300 for Small Employers

Safety Tidbit #1 (6/19/2015)

Small employers are a special lot when it comes to their diversity. Sometimes the employer has 10 or fewer employees. Other times, they are in industries with a North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code that OSHA has specified as “low hazard” industries. To complicate matters, some of small businesses may have multiple facilities where they may be doing completely different operations. Therefore, I decided to put together three quick questions that will help small businesses ascertain whether a 300 log is required or not. That being said, I strongly recommend all employers use the 300 log (and the 301 and 300A) to track any incidents (injuries and near misses) they may experience.

So let’s get to it:

1. Is this a permanent establishment (one year or longer)? No – OSHA 300 not required. Keep injury/illness information with corporate records [1904.30(a)]. Answered yes? Continue to Question 2.

2. Is the primary industry at the permanent establishment listed as low hazard rating?  Yes – OSHA 300 not required [1904.2(a)(1)]. Answered no? Continue to Question 3.

3. Does the permanent establishment or the entire company have more than ten employees? No – OSHA 300 not required [1904.1(b)(1)] Answered Yes? Then an OSHA 300 must be kept for the permanent establishment.