What OSHA Forms Need to Be Posted in the Workplace?

Three OSHA documents must be posted in the workplace: the “Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law” poster year-round, the Form 300A annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses from February 1 through April 30, and any citations or related notices OSHA issues after an inspection. Missing even one can draw a penalty of up to $16,550 per violation under the current schedule.¹

The “Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law” Poster

This is the one poster every covered employer keeps on the wall permanently. Under 29 CFR 1903.2, employers must display a notice informing workers of their rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, including the right to report hazards, request an inspection, and receive training in a language they understand. The poster also lists contact information for local OSHA offices.²

You can download it free from OSHA or order a printed copy through the OSHA Publications page. The English version is publication 3165 and the Spanish version is 3167.³ OSHA explicitly warns employers not to pay third-party vendors for a poster the agency provides at no cost. Compliance-poster subscription services that bundle federal and state notices can run roughly $40 to $400 a year and are never required.

States that run their own OSHA-approved plans may issue their own poster. Employers covered by a state plan meet the federal requirement by displaying the state version. If your operations include activities the state plan doesn’t cover, post the federal version for those activities too.²

Language

The regulation does not require the notice to be posted in any language other than English, and there is no workforce-percentage trigger for a Spanish or other non-English version. OSHA does encourage employers to post it in workers’ native languages where employees cannot read English.⁴ Because OSHA separately requires training in a language workers understand, adding the poster in additional languages is a practical step.⁵

Form 300A: Annual Injury and Illness Summary

Form 300A is the aggregate summary of work-related injuries and illnesses. Its posting window runs February 1 through April 30 each year and covers data from the prior calendar year.⁶ The 300A shows totals only, not individual employee cases, so posting it doesn’t expose anyone’s personal information.

The form captures total deaths, cases with days away from work, cases involving job transfers or restrictions, and other recordable injuries and illnesses, along with total hours worked and the annual average number of employees. A company executive — an owner, corporate officer, or the highest-ranking official at the establishment — must sign the summary certifying they have reviewed the underlying Form 300 log and reasonably believe the data is accurate.⁶

Who Doesn’t Have to Post the 300A

Two categories of employers are partially exempt from OSHA’s injury and illness recordkeeping, and that exemption carries over to the 300A posting:

Companies with ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year, regardless of industry. This is measured at the company level, not per location.⁷
Establishments in lower-hazard industries listed by NAICS code in Appendix A to Subpart B of 29 CFR Part 1904, which include certain segments of retail, finance, and real estate.⁸

The exemption is only for routine recordkeeping. Even exempt employers must keep records if OSHA specifically requests them and must still report fatalities and severe injuries.

Citations and Post-Inspection Notices

When an OSHA inspector cites a violation, the citation describes the hazard, sets a deadline for correcting it, and proposes a penalty. The employer must immediately post the citation, unedited, at or near each location where the alleged violation occurred. If posting at the exact spot isn’t practical because operations are dispersed, the citation goes in a prominent place visible to all affected workers.⁹

Each posted citation stays up until the hazard is corrected or for three working days, whichever is longer. If a fix takes two weeks, the citation stays posted for two weeks.¹⁰ Filing a notice of intent to contest the citation does not remove the posting obligation. Notices classified as de minimis do not have to be posted.

Penalties adjusted effective January 15, 2025 top out at $16,550 per violation for serious, other-than-serious, and posting-requirement violations. Willful or repeated violations can reach $165,514 per violation, and the amounts adjust for inflation each year.¹

Petitions for Modification of Abatement

If you can’t correct a cited hazard by the abatement deadline, you can file a petition for modification of abatement with the Area Director. This is a request for more time, not a challenge to the citation. A copy of the petition must be posted in a conspicuous place visible to all affected employees and must remain posted for ten working days. The petition must be filed no later than the close of the next working day after the original abatement date.¹¹

Variance Applications

A variance is different from an abatement petition. Employers apply for one when they believe they can achieve equivalent worker protection through methods that don’t literally match an OSHA standard. Under 29 CFR Part 1905, the employer must post a summary of the application where employee notices are normally displayed so affected workers can review and comment on it.¹²

Where to Post

Post in a conspicuous place where notices to employees are customarily posted. Break rooms, hallways near time clocks, and common areas near building entrances are the usual spots. Each physical establishment needs its own complete set of postings.¹³

For dispersed operations in construction, agriculture, transportation, and similar industries, the poster goes at the location where employees report each day. If workers don’t report to any single location, it goes at the base from which they operate.¹³ Citations follow their own location rule: at or near the specific spot where the violation occurred, not just a general common area.⁹

Remote work is the one area where the regulation hasn’t caught up. It was written around physical establishments, and OSHA has not issued formal guidance explicitly permitting electronic posting via intranet or email as a substitute. Employers with fully remote workers should consider posting the required documents on a company intranet and distributing them electronically, but whether that fully satisfies the “conspicuous place” standard remains an open question without a definitive OSHA interpretation. The safer approach is to combine electronic access with a mailed or hand-delivered physical copy at onboarding.

Posting Deadlines at a Glance

Knowing when each document goes up and when it comes down is where most compliance mistakes happen.

Job Safety and Health poster: year-round, permanently. Replace it only if OSHA issues an updated version or if the poster becomes damaged or covered.²
Form 300A summary: February 1 through April 30, covering the previous calendar year. After April 30 it comes down but must be retained in your files for five years.⁶
Citations: post immediately on receipt. Keep them posted until the violation is corrected or for three working days, whichever is longer.⁹
Petitions for modification of abatement: posted for ten working days.¹¹
Variance applications: posted while the application is pending so affected employees can review and respond.¹²

Pulling a citation down before the hazard is corrected or removing the 300A summary before April 30 are among the quickest ways to draw an additional penalty. Treat the dates as hard lines.

1
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1903.2 – Posting of Notice; Availability of the Act, Regulations and Applicable Standards
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law Poster
4
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Posting Requirements for Notices in Other Languages
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Employer Responsibilities
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1904.32 – Annual Summary
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Updates to OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule: Who Is Required to Keep Records
8
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Non-Mandatory Appendix A to Subpart B – Partially Exempt Industries
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1903.16 – Posting of Citations
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eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1903 – Inspections, Citations and Proposed Penalties – Section: 1903.16
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eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1903 – Inspections, Citations and Proposed Penalties – Section: 1903.14a
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eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1905 – Rules of Practice for Variances, Limitations, Variations, Tolerances, and Exemptions
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1903.2 – Posting of Notice; Availability of the Act, Regulations and Applicable Standards