Today's Safety News

New OSHA recordkeeping forms for 2004 now available

The revised OSHA Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses is now available on OSHAÂ¿s website at www.osha.gov. The forms, which are required for employers to use in recording injuries and illnesses, have changed in several important ways for 2004.

Most notable among the changes is the addition of an occupational hearing loss column to OSHAÂ¿s Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. Other changes include:

"days away from work" column now comes before the days "on job transfer or restriction";

more clear formulas for calculating incidence rates;

new recording criteria for occupational hearing loss in the "Overview" section;

more prominent column heading "Classify the Case" to make it clear that employers should mark only one selection among the four columns offered.

These changes were made in response to public suggestions on making the forms easier to use.

Employers must begin to use the new OSHA Form 300 on January 1, 2004. The new form has the date of revision (rev. 1/2004) located on the form next to the form number.

Injuries and illnesses for years prior to 2004 should continue to be recorded on the appropriate form for that year (i.e., 2003 and 2002 injuries and illnesses should be recorded on the forms for those years). The forms for 2003 and 2002 will continue to be available on OSHAÂ¿s Web site. Additionally, employers should use the old OSHA 300A Summary Form (without the hearing loss column) to post as required in February 2004. The new 300A form that includes the hearing loss column should be used to post in February 2005.

Hard copies of the new OSHA 300 form will be available beginning in November 2003, and can be obtained using OSHAÂ¿s online order form or by calling 1-800-321-OSHA.