OSHA Recordkeeping Requirements

Who must keep Records?

Employers must keep occupational injury and illness records unless exempted by OSHA.  The agency has carved out exemptions for small employers and for employers engaged in industries that the agency deems relatively safe.

OSHA requires employers with more than 10 employees to keep records of occupational injuries and illnesses, unless the employer's industry is on OSHA's list of partially exempt low-hazard industries.

Exemptions from certain record keeping requirements.  Low-hazard industries.  OSHA has exempted specific industries that the agency deems to be low hazard, like banks, insurance companies, and other retail, finance, professional services, and similar establishments, from the duty to maintain OSHA records.

The exempt low-hazard industries are classified using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), not the older Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.  The current list of roughly 76 partially exempt NAICS codes includes retail trade; certain finance, insurance, and real estate services; legal, accounting, and other professional services; motion picture and other media industries; and similar low-hazard sectors (29 CFR 1904.2 and 1904 Subpart B, Appendix A).  Employers should confirm their establishment's current NAICS classification directly on OSHA's website, since the exempt list is periodically updated.

10 or fewer employees.  Employers who had 10 or fewer full – or part-time employees at all times during the previous calendar year are exempt from routine OSH Act injury and illness recordkeeping requirements. (29 CFR 1904.1).  If an employer has more than one establishment, the size exemption is applied on a per-establishment basis, not by combined company-wide employment.

• No Exemption for Reporting, Posting: Even if exempted from recordkeeping, an employer must display the OSHA poster and must report to OSHA within 8 hours any work-related fatality, and within 24 hours any work-related in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees, amputation, or loss of an eye (29 CFR 1904.39).
• No Exemption if Selected for Survey: Even if exempted from recordkeeping, an employer must maintain an OSHA form 300 if it is selected by OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics to participate in a data collection or statistical reporting program.
• Interaction with Other Laws: Employers subject to injury and illness recordkeeping requirements of other federal safety and health regulations are not exempt from OSHA recordkeeping.  However, OSHA will allow use of records used for other recordkeeping obligations, as long as the forms contain the equivalent information.