Every year between February 1 and April 30, covered employers must post the OSHA Form 300A — a summary of the work-related injuries and illnesses recorded on the Form 300 log during the prior calendar year. This is a separate requirement from maintaining the Form 300 log itself, and failing to post is one of the most common recordkeeping citations OSHA issues.
Who Must Post
Employers who are required to maintain OSHA injury and illness records must post the 300A summary. The basic rule: private-sector employers with 11 or more employees in industries that are not partially exempt from recordkeeping.
Exemptions from posting (same as recordkeeping exemption):
- Employers with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the prior calendar year
- Employers in specific low-hazard industries listed in OSHA's recordkeeping regulations, regardless of size — these include most retail, finance, insurance, real estate, and service industries
If you're not sure whether your industry is exempt, OSHA publishes a list of partially exempt industries with their NAICS codes. The exemption applies to recordkeeping — not to the requirement to report severe injuries (fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, loss of an eye), which applies to all employers regardless of size.
What the Form 300A Contains
The Form 300A is a one-page summary derived from the Form 300 log. It contains:
- Total number of cases involving days away from work
- Total number of cases involving job transfer or restriction
- Total number of other recordable cases
- Total number of days away from work
- Total number of days of job transfer or restriction
- Injury and illness type totals (injuries, skin disorders, respiratory conditions, poisonings, hearing loss, all other illnesses)
- Annual average number of employees
- Total hours worked by all employees
If you had no recordable injuries or illnesses during the year, you still must complete the form and post it — with zeros entered in all the total fields. A blank form that was never completed is not sufficient.
The Signature Requirement
The Form 300A must be signed and certified by a company executive — specifically, an owner, an officer of the corporation, the highest-ranking company official working at the establishment, or that person's supervisor. A safety manager signing the 300A on their own authority is not sufficient unless they meet one of these criteria.
The signature certifies that the summary is accurate and complete to the best of the certifying official's knowledge. This is an attestation with legal significance — certifying a 300A you know to be inaccurate is a separate violation.
Where to Post It
The 300A must be posted in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted. This typically means the break room bulletin board, the HR bulletin board, or wherever other required postings (OSHA poster, EEO notices, etc.) are displayed. It must be accessible to all employees who work at the establishment.
For employers with multiple locations, each establishment that keeps its own 300 log must post its own 300A. A single posting at a corporate office doesn't satisfy the requirement for other locations.
The Posting Period: February 1 Through April 30
The 300A must remain posted for the full period — from February 1 through April 30. Posting it on February 1 and taking it down on February 15 is a violation. The form must stay up for the entire 89-day window.
After April 30, you must retain the form for five years following the end of the calendar year it covers. The 300A from 2024 must be retained through 2029.
Electronic Submission
Some employers must also submit 300A data electronically to OSHA through the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) at osha.gov/ita. The submission deadline is March 2 for the prior year's data.
Electronic submission requirements by establishment size:
- 250 or more employees at an establishment that is required to keep records: must submit Form 300A data annually
- 20–249 employees in certain high-hazard industries: must submit Form 300A data annually
- 100 or more employees in designated high-hazard industries: must submit Forms 300, 300A, and 301 data annually
Electronic submission is separate from the workplace posting requirement — submitting electronically doesn't substitute for posting the physical form.
What Happens If You Miss It
Failing to post the 300A by February 1 is a recordkeeping violation under 29 CFR 1904.32. OSHA can cite this as an other-than-serious or serious violation depending on circumstances. Missing the posting is one of the most straightforward violations for an inspector to document — they walk in on February 15, look for the 300A, and if it isn't posted, it's a citation.
The penalty for recordkeeping violations runs up to $16,550 per violation. In practice, OSHA often treats a missed posting as a lower-severity citation for employers who have otherwise maintained their records — but the citation is still issued and still affects your compliance record.
A Practical Checklist for February 1
- Form 300 log completed for prior calendar year — all recordable cases entered
- Form 300A totals calculated from the 300 log
- Annual average number of employees and total hours worked calculated and entered
- Form 300A signed by a qualifying company executive
- Form posted February 1 in a location where all employees can see it
- For multi-location employers: 300A posted at each establishment
- Form left posted through April 30
- Electronic submission completed by March 2 (if required)
- Retained copy filed — keep for 5 years
For a full explanation of recordkeeping requirements — what counts as recordable, what doesn't, and how to complete each form — see our complete OSHA recordkeeping guide.