You might be required to annually e-file injury and illness forms

There’s no better time than National Safety Month to update you on one of the things the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been up to. Last month, OSHA issued a final rule on injury and illness record keeping and it’s been a hot topic ever since. We want to help you sort through the ruling and make sure you understand what you need to know, how to comply and all the ways Pinnacol can help.

The rule

Employers who have 250 or more employees and are currently required to keep injury and illness records will need to electronically file their 300, 300A and 301 forms with OSHA. Also, construction, manufacturing and certain other companies will be required to e-file even if they employ just 20 to 249 workers.

Two things to note

1. Employers must submit their OSHA 300A annual summaries by July 1, 2017, so be sure to maintain comprehensive logs for 2016. E-filings of OSHA’s 300 and 301 forms will not be required until 2018. These forms will be due by July 1, 2018, and by March 2 in the years following.
2. If yours is a high-hazard business, you already track and record injuries and illnesses. With the new rule, you’ll just need to take the extra step of annually e-filing the forms with OSHA.

So, what do I need to do now?

Safety Consultant Mark Shanklin recommends that policyholders be proactive by maintaining their OSHA logs. “Maintain your OSHA logs now. You may be required to send in your OSHA Record Keeping Law 300A records in the near future, and if you’re prepared to do that, you won’t be caught by surprise and you’ll save yourself time, stress and money.”

Pinnacol is here to help. Contact your Pinnacol safety consultant to determine whether your organization must comply, or email Safety On Call at safetyoncall@pinnacol.com. You can access OSHA’s forms through Pinnacol’s OSHA Report Manager. Also, Pinnacol offers in-person training on OSHA record keeping every year to ease compliance. Register as those dates become available.