The OSHA 300A Summary is due to be posted in the workplace by February 1 and must remain up through April 30. Covered establishments must also electronically submit their injury and illness data to OSHA through the Injury Tracking Application by March 2. After posting ends, the 300 Log, 301 Incident Reports, and 300A Summary must be kept on file for five years.
February 1: Post the 300A Summary
Every employer required to keep OSHA records must complete, certify, and post the 300A Summary by February 1 of the year following the year the records cover. It has to stay posted through April 30, so employees have a full three months to review it.1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1904.32 – Annual Summary
Post it in a conspicuous spot where employee notices normally go, like a breakroom bulletin board. It can’t be altered, covered by other materials, or taken down early. If the establishment had zero recordable incidents during the year, the 300A still has to be posted, with zeros filled in for every column.1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1904.32 – Annual Summary
Only the 300A goes up. The detailed 300 Log and individual 301 Incident Reports stay in your files and are never displayed publicly.2Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Forms for Recording Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
Who Signs the 300A
The 300A requires a company executive’s signature certifying the summary is correct and complete. Not just anyone can sign. The person certifying must be one of the following:1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1904.32 – Annual Summary
- An owner, but only if the business is a sole proprietorship or partnership
- A corporate officer
- The highest-ranking company official at the establishment
- The immediate supervisor of that highest-ranking official
Having an HR coordinator or safety manager sign when none of these titles apply is a common compliance mistake.
March 2: Electronic Submission Through the ITA
Separate from posting, certain establishments must electronically submit their injury and illness data to OSHA through the Injury Tracking Application by March 2 each year. For calendar year 2025 data, the deadline was March 2, 2026. Establishments that miss the date are still expected to submit as soon as possible.3Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Injury Tracking Application (ITA) Information
Not every employer that keeps OSHA records has to submit. The requirement applies at the establishment level based on employee count and industry:4Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1904.41 – Electronic Submission of Employer Identification Number (EIN) and Injury and Illness Records to OSHA
- Establishments with 20 to 249 employees in designated high-hazard industries (listed in Appendix A to Subpart E) submit 300A Summary data. Covered sectors include construction, manufacturing, agriculture, utilities, warehousing, hospitals, nursing facilities, grocery stores, and trucking, among others.
- Establishments with 250 or more employees submit 300A Summary data if they are otherwise required to keep OSHA records.
- Establishments with 100 or more employees in the industries listed in Appendix B to Subpart E submit the full 300 Log and 301 Incident Reports in addition to the 300A.
Establishments with 19 or fewer employees never submit electronically, regardless of industry. Establishments in the Subpart B partial exemption industries are also excluded, regardless of size.3Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Injury Tracking Application (ITA) Information
If you spot an error after submitting, you can log back into the ITA and edit your data through December 31 of the submission year. The system only allows edits for the most recent year, so prior-year submissions cannot be corrected through the ITA.5Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Frequently Asked Questions
Seven Days: Logging New Incidents
A recordable injury or illness has to be added to the 300 Log within seven calendar days of the employer learning about it. That deadline runs year-round, not just at annual posting time, and the log feeds directly into the numbers you will certify on the February 1 summary.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1904.7 – General Recording Criteria
Five Years: Retention After Posting Ends
When April 30 rolls around, the records don’t go away. Employers must keep the 300 Log, 301 Incident Reports, and 300A Summary for five years after the end of the calendar year they cover. Records for 2025 must be retained through the end of 2030.7eCFR. Subpart D – Other OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Requirements
During those five years, the 300 Log stays a living document. If the outcome of a recorded case changes, such as an employee on restricted duty later needing days away from work, the log has to be updated to reflect the new information. The 301 Incident Reports and the 300A Summary don’t have to be updated after completion, though you can update them voluntarily.7eCFR. Subpart D – Other OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Requirements
What Missing a Deadline Costs
OSHA treats recordkeeping failures the same as any other regulatory violation. As of the inflation adjustment effective January 15, 2025, the maximum penalty for a serious or other-than-serious violation, including posting violations, is $16,550 per violation. Willful or repeated violations can reach $165,514 per violation. These figures adjust for inflation annually, so 2026 amounts may rise slightly once OSHA publishes updated numbers.8Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties
Each missing or late form can count as a separate violation. An employer who fails to maintain a 300 Log, fails to post the 300A, and fails to submit electronically could face three distinct citations from a single inspection. Knowingly making false statements on any OSHA record is a criminal offense that can bring fines up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.9Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Penalties
Who These Deadlines Don’t Apply To
Two partial exemptions from recordkeeping exist under federal regulations. The size exemption covers employers who had ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year. If total headcount across all locations exceeded ten at any point during the year, even briefly, the exemption disappears. The industry exemption covers establishments in certain lower-hazard sectors identified by NAICS code and listed in Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 1904, including many retail, finance, and service businesses.10eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1904 – Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
Exemption from the routine recordkeeping deadlines does not mean exemption from everything. Every employer, exempt or not, must report a work-related fatality to OSHA within eight hours, and any hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours.10eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1904 – Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
Employers in states with their own OSHA-approved plans follow recordkeeping rules substantially identical to the federal ones, though state-plan states can impose additional or stricter requirements with OSHA approval.11Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1904.37 – State Recordkeeping Regulations