Recordkeeping, Recordable, Reportable: Understanding OSHA

As with most government-related topics, OSHA terminology can seem complicated and overwhelming. However, it is often these types of topics where it is even more important to get things right.

Keep reading to learn more about maintaining OSHA recordkeeping logs, when you need to submit incident reports to OSHA, what “OSHA approved” means, and much more.

Recording Injuries and Reporting to OSHA

With OSHA records, there are three main terms you will see commonly used, and that will be used throughout this article. Let’s start with some basics.

Recording is simply the act of tracking a work-related injury or illness. There are multiple incident reports and logs that need to be filled out and maintained by each company, with different additional information required of each one.

Reporting means notifying OSHA of certain outcomes from occupational incidents, such as a death or loss of an eye. These incident reports must occur within a certain timeframe, depending on the specific injury.

Submitting refers to the electronic submission of illness records and specific injury information about the previous calendar year. This is done using a specific OSHA form found on the OSHA website and is required of certain employers each year.

What Makes Something a Recordable Incident?

Simply put, a recordable incident is a work-related injury or illness that results in any of the following:

• Fatality
• Loss of consciousness
• Calendar days away from work
• Restricted work activity or job transfer
• Diagnosis of cancer or chronic irreversible diseases
• Punctured eardrum
• Fractured or cracked bones

Medical treatment beyond first aid

What are Reportable Incidents?

Most work-related injuries and illnesses that occur may need to be recorded on the proper OSHA form, but the majority are not reportable incidents, other than during an annual submission. However, there are certain situations that call for immediate OSHA reporting.

All occupational incidents that result in a fatality or serious injuries — in-patient hospitalization, amputations, or the loss of an eye — must be directly reported, either to the nearest OSHA Area Office, to the 24-hour OSHA hotline, or via the online OSHA form.

Work-related fatalities must be reported within 8 hours of learning about the death. Any other severe injury listed above must be reported within 24 hours. Unlike any of the recordkeeping regulations, all employers under OSHA jurisdiction, including an OSHA-approved State Plan, must report these types of incidents.

OSHA-Required Training vs. OSHA-Authorized Training

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which created OSHA, employers must provide their employees with a work environment that is free of known dangers. This includes training on OSHA-identified health hazards and hazardous conditions. Training requirements for these hazards can be found within the applicable federal standards.

However, many employees choose to also complete courses commonly called OSHA 10/30, or OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 training. Employees interested in completing OSHA 10/30 courses must find an OSHA-authorized trainer, which is where the confusion of terms often comes from.

While OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 courses may not be required by federal OSHA, there are certain OSHA requirements and procedures trainers must follow. OSHA sets forth the curriculum for the courses, down to how many minutes must be spent on each subject. Because OSHA holds its online training providers to such high standards, only a handful of companies are approved to offer OSHA-Authorized Training.

Above all, it is important to remember that OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 are not meant to be the only training provided and will not meet OSHA requirements.

Employees who complete these programs certainly will be better equipped to identify health hazards, but OSHA 10/30 is intended to lay a foundation. Additional training that is customized to address job-specific health hazards builds on this foundation.

Can I Buy OSHA-Approved Training Content?

OSHA has published nearly 1,000 federal standards, and many of those include workplace safety training requirements to ensure workers are prepared with the skills and knowledge to safely perform their work.

Many online training providers claim their content has been “OSHA approved” but that is simply not the case. There is no such thing as OSHA-approved workplace safety training.

Employers are responsible for ensuring their occupational safety training meets OSHA requirements as far as content and frequency are concerned, but OSHA does not "approve” any training content that employers can provide to their employees.

Other Common OSHA Terms to Know

These are some of the larger categories of OSHA terminology you will likely encounter, but there are a few other common terms found in federal OSHA regulations that can be helpful to understand when trying to ensure and maintain your compliance.

Competent person: This term is found in many OSHA requirements and deals with workplace hazards. A competent person possesses the skills, knowledge, experience, and judgement to perform assigned tasks and activities satisfactorily.

Qualified person: This is similar to a competent person, but this worker does not have the authority to correct hazardous conditions. The qualified worker, through professional recognition or extensive experience, has demonstrated the ability to resolve or remove potential health hazards.

Proficiency: OSHA believes employee training should establish employee proficiency. Many standards explicitly state that operations should not occur until proficiency — defined as meeting a stated level of achievement — is established and documented.

Training To Avoid a Recordable Incident

While it may go without saying, training your entire workforce not only helps to minimize occupational safety risks, but it also means you may be less likely to have a recordable incident occur on the job.

Taking online safety training is convenient as each of your employees can receive training on a wide range of topics, from the uses of various PPE to understanding specific federal OSHA regulations, or OSHA-approved State Plan regulations, and even learning proper incident reporting procedures.

Another benefit to taking training online is how easy it is to repeat training as often as is needed — or as often as you’d like. Some OSHA regulations require training to be conducted at least annually or when certain conditions change at the workplace.

It’s never a wrong time to evaluate your current workplace safety program, or implement a new one, to protect your employees and ensure you are adhering to OSHA requirements. Contact HSI today to see how we can help you get a head start on improving your workplace safety program.