Keenan Briefings

Briefing

CAL/OSHA Form 300A: Electronic Recording & Reporting of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses - Update

Background

The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) require that certain employers make and preserve records of workplace injuries and illnesses. They also require employers to annually submit Form 300-A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.

Cal/OSHA operates under a “State Plan” approved by OSHA. A State Plan is an OSHA-approved occupational safety and health program operated by a state, instead of OSHA. State Plans must operate under standards at least as rigorous as those promulgated by OSHA.

In January of 2018, OSHA announced electronic reporting requirements for employers that are required to report Form 300A data to OSHA. In April of 2018, OSHA announced that affected employers in State Plan states (including California), would now be required to submit their Form 300A data electronically to OSHA, even if the State Plan had not yet adopted its own state rule. At the time, California was one of the states that had not adopted its own electronic reporting rule. After OSHA’s April announcement, California employers expressed considerable confusion about their obligations under the federal OSHA reporting regulations.

California responded at the end of October, by introducing and approving emergency regulations conforming with OSHA’s rules governing the electronic recording and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses.

On November 1, 2018, Cal/OSHA enacted emergency regulations which requires many employers to electronically submit their Cal/OSHA Form 300A data using the electronic reporting system, Injury Tracking Application online portal (ITA). The ITA is managed by OSHA. Click here for information on the reporting requirements on the Cal/OSHA website.

Who Must Comply:

The following employers must comply with Cal/OSHA’s electronic injury and illness reporting rules:

1. Employers with 250 or more employees in the prior calendar year.
2. Employers in specific industries, if they had 20-249 employees at any time in the prior calendar year. Included in this category are ambulatory health care services, general medical and surgical hospitals, psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, nursing care facilities and other residential care facilities.
3. All employers that are notified by OSHA or its designee stating that it must report.

Who Does Not Have to Comply:

Employers do not have to comply with these electronic reporting requirements if they are partially exempt from keeping injury and illness records under Cal/OSHA § 14300.1 and/or 14300.2.

The list of partially exempt industries includes, but is not limited to:

• insurance carriers, agencies, brokerage and other insurance-related providers;
• insurance and employee benefit funds, other investment pools and funds;
• elementary and secondary schools, junior colleges, colleges, universities, technical and trade schools, and other schools and instruction facilities; and,
• offices of physicians, dentists and other health care practitioners, and outpatient care centers.

Click here for a list of partial exempt establishments with 250 or more employees. For establishments with 20 to 249 employees, click here, (Appendix H). State and local governmental entities are not on the list of partially exempt industries, and therefore they must comply if they fit into one of the three enumerated categories of reporters above.

Electronic Reporting Requirements

Those employers required to report, they must electronically report their Form 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses by March 2^nd for the previous calendar year. For those required to use electronic reporting, employers are instructed by Cal/OSHA to follow the instructions posted on federal OSHA’s ITA website, the link for which is below.

https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting

Below is a link to the Cal/OSHA Publications website for Recordkeeping

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/puborder.asp#RK

Note: There has been some confusion over the years regarding the annual requirement of posting and reporting of the Cal/OSHA Summary of Injury and Illnesses form 300A and the submitting of the “Notice of Recordkeeping Requirements”- Survey of Occupations Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These are two separate and distinct requirements for employers. You only need to report data to BLS if you receive a notice from BLS requesting it. You will report data directly to BLS. Click here for BLS FAQs. The electronic reporting of the 300A log is required annually through the ITA.

Please contact your Keenan representative for questions regarding this briefing.

AP Keenan is not a law firm and no opinion, suggestion, or recommendation of the firm or its employees shall constitute legal advice. Clients are advised to consult with their own attorney for a determination of their legal rights, responsibilities, and liabilities, including the interpretation of any statute or regulation, or its application to the clients’ business activities.