The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule Jan. 24 that eliminates the requirement for businesses with 250 or more employees to electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report) to OSHA on an annual basis.
 
Those businesses still must electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses).
 
“By preventing routine government collection of information that may be quite sensitive, including descriptions of workers’ injuries and body parts affected, OSHA is avoiding the risk that such information might be publicly disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),”
OSHA wrote in a release. “This rule will better protect personally identifiable information or data that could be re-identified with a particular worker by removing the requirement for covered employers to submit their information from Forms 300 and 301. The final rule does not alter an employer’s duty to maintain OSHA Forms 300 and 301 on-site, and OSHA will continue to obtain these forms as needed through inspections and enforcement actions.”