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OSHA Tracking & Reporting

What is OSHA?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Labor that enforces workplace safety standards and regulations designed to prevent injuries, illnesses, and fatalities on the job. In addition to enforcement, OSHA provides training, outreach, and resources to help employers understand and meet their compliance responsibilities.

While OSHA regulations apply to most private sector employers across the United States, certain industries—such as healthcare, manufacturing, and construction—may be subject to additional reporting based on the nature of their work.

When workplace injuries and illnesses arise, OSHA requires tracking and reporting through specific recordkeeping forms. Depending on organization size and industry classification, some employers must also submit this information electronically through the OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA).

Why is OSHA Tracking & Reporting Important?

Accurate OSHA tracking is essential for maintaining a safe and healthy workplace. It helps prevent injuries and illnesses, supports compliance with federal regulations, and reduces the risk of costly fines or penalties. Consistent recordkeeping also promotes a culture of accountability and transparency, especially in high-risk industries. 

Unfortunately, even with proper precautions in place, the risk of a workplace incident can never be completely eliminated. In cases where injuries and illnesses occur within the workplace, it's important to track theses incidents accurately and within a timely fashion.

OSHA requires that serious work-related injuries be reported promptly. Fatalities must be reported within 8 hours, and in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or loss of an eye must be reported within 24 hours. In addition, employers must maintain records using OSHA Forms 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses), 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report), and 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses). Each year, covered employers must post the completed 300A form in a visible location from February 1 through April 30, and certain employers must also electronically submit this information to OSHA by March 2. Failure to report or submit required OSHA forms can result in significant penalties, including fines that may increase based on the severity or repeat nature of the violation. For more information on OSHA reporting, please refer to OSHA's website at https://www.osha.gov.

OSHA Tracking & Reporting in Empeon Workforce

Within Empeon Workforce, OSHA incident tracking is managed directly in the Employee Profile of the affected employee. Within the HR section of the Employee Profile, there is a category for Workplace Incidents where OSHA-related incidents can be tracked.

OSHA 1-2

Recorded OSHA incidents are tracked and saved within the Employee Profile for historical reference. These records are used to populate OSHA-related reports in Empeon, including the standard OSHA Form 300, OSHA Form 300A, and OSHA Form 301 reports.

To record a new OSHA-related incident, click the blue 'plus' icon in the top right of this section, or, if no incidents have been recorded yet, click the grey bar that says "+ Add Workplace Incidents".

Case Details

Upon logging a new workplace incident, there will be multiple tabs where information is entered, starting with the first tab for Case Details. While most fields on this tab are not set as required, it is important to be as thorough as possible when entering information in these fields:

  • Incident Type - Select the type of incident from the dropdown menu. Available options include: Injury, Illness (Skin Disorder), Illness (Respiratory Condition), Illness (Poisoning), Illness (Hearing Loss), Illness (Other), and Contaminated Sharps Injury.

    The Contaminated Sharps Injury option is particularly relevant to healthcare and skilled nursing environments, where sharps-related injuries are among the most frequently reported and often require heightened documentation. When this type is selected, an additional tab for "Sharps" will be prompted to capture specific details related to the sharp object involved and any preventive measures in place at the time of the incident.
  • Incident Date - Enter the date the incident occurred. This field helps establish when the event took place and is used for both internal recordkeeping and compliance with OSHA’s required reporting timeframes.
  • Time Employee Began Work - Records the time the employee’s shift began on the day of the incident. This is used to assess how long the employee had been working before the incident occurred, which can be relevant in identifying patterns related to fatigue or shift length.
  • Incident Time - Indicates when the incident occurred. Two options are available:
    1. Actual Time – Selecting this unlocks a field to manually enter the specific time of the incident.
    2. Undetermined – Select this if the exact time is unknown or cannot be reasonably verified.
  • Where Did the Incident Occur? - Captures the specific location of the incident to help identify environmental or situational factors that may have contributed to the injury. This information supports both internal investigations and OSHA location-based reporting.
  • What was the Employee Doing just before the Incident Occurred? - Establishes the context of the employee’s activity prior to the incident, which can be critical in determining whether proper procedures were followed or if job duties played a role in the event.
  • What Happened? Tell us How the Injury Occurred - Provides a narrative of the incident itself. This field is central to understanding the sequence of events and is often reviewed closely during audits or safety evaluations. Be as detailed as possible to ensure the incident is accurately documented and easily understood by reviewers.
  • What was the Injury or Illness? - Defines the type of harm sustained. This helps classify the severity and nature of the incident for OSHA documentation and internal recordkeeping.
  • What Object or Substance Directly Harmed the Employee? - Identifies the source of the injury, which is key for spotting recurring hazards across similar incidents or roles.
  • Describe the Illness or Injury - Expands on the type of injury or illness by including specific details such as affected body parts, severity, or symptoms. A thorough description helps with accurate classification and ensures appropriate follow-up, whether for medical care, internal review, or claims processing.

Treatment

After recording information within the Case Details tab, the next tab is Treatment. If associated with the injury or illness, there was treatment provided, it is important to record those details on this tab. No fields on this tab are technically required, but it is still very much important to record treatment details if there are any.

  • Treated in Emergency Room - Specifies whether the employee received immediate care in an emergency department. This helps distinguish incidents that required urgent medical attention from less severe cases.
  • Hospitalized overnight as an in-patient - Indicates whether the employee was admitted to a hospital for extended observation or treatment. Unlike ER visits, this refers to situations where ongoing care was necessary, even if it wasn’t an emergency.
  • Name of Physician or Other Health Care Professional - Allows you to record the treating provider’s name. Useful for follow-up or if supporting documentation is needed later.
  • Treatment given away from worksite - Toggle that indicates whether treatment occurred offsite. Turning this on reveals additional fields for documenting the facility where treatment occurred, helping track external medical involvement. 
    • Facility & Address - If treatment was given away from the worksite, enter the facility name and address into the respective fields.

Other

After recording treatment details if there are any, the third tab is Other. This is where case numbers and OSHA classifications are assigned, along with details about the person recording the incident in the system. This information is required for OSHA reporting in case OSHA needs to contact the business.

  • Case Number - Displays the system-generated number assigned to the incident based on the order in which it was recorded. This field cannot be edited.
  • Privacy case - Indicates whether the case qualifies as a privacy case under OSHA's criteria. OSHA requires certain injuries and illnesses to be treated as privacy cases to protect the identity of the affected employee. This includes cases involving intimate body parts or reproductive systems, mental illness, HIV infection, needlestick injuries that result in exposure to bloodborne pathogens, and other sensitive conditions. When marked as a privacy case, the employee’s name is omitted from public versions of the OSHA 300 log and replaced with “Privacy Case.”
  • Classification - Indicates the severity of the incident based on OSHA recordkeeping criteria. The four options in this dropdown include: Death, Days away from work, Job transfer or restriction, and Other recordable case. For the first three options, fields for associated dates will appear to enter the applicable dates tied to the classification.
  • Completed By - This is the name of the individual recording this incident within Empeon Workforce. This person may be contacted by OSHA for additional information and follow-up.
    • Title - This is the title of the individual recording this incident within Empeon Workforce.
    • Phone - This is the phone number associated with the business or the individual recording this incident in Empeon Workforce.
  • Date Completed - This the date when the incident was recorded within the system, not the date of the incident.
  • Additional Comments - Any additional notes relating to the incident can be entered here.

Sharps

A fourth tab may be available if the Incident Type listed on the Case Details tab is set as "Contaminated Sharps Injury". This tab is used to capture additional information required specifically for sharps-related incidents, such as details about the device involved and whether the injury was preventable. This information is collected in compliance with OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.

  • Procedure - Describes the medical or clinical procedure being performed when the sharps injury occurred.
  • Procedure Stage - Indicates the specific point in the procedure when the sharps injury took place (e.g., during use, after use, during disposal).
  • Sharp Type - Specifies the type of sharp object involved in the sharps injury (e.g., needle, scalpel, lancet).
  • Sharp Brand - Captures the manufacturer or brand name of the sharp device involved in the sharps injury.
  • Sharp Model - Lists the model or product number of the sharp device, if known.
  • Did the Device have Engineered Injury Protection? - This indicated whether the sharp device was designed with any built-in safety mechanisms intended to prevent injuries associated with the device. Common examples include retractable needles, sliding sheaths, or other protective features. If "No" is selected, an additional field appears to explain whether such a mechanism could have prevented the injury.  
    • Could such Mechanism have Prevented the Injury? If so, How? - If the device did not include injury protection, this field allows for an explanation of how a specific safety mechanism (such as a retractable feature or guard) could have helped prevent the sharps injury.
    • Was the Protective Mechanism Used? - Identifies whether the device’s injury protection feature was actually used or activated at the time of the incident. Even if the device was engineered for safety, failure to properly engage the mechanism can still lead to injury.

Once all tabs associated with a Workplace Incident have been entered and saved, the incident record will remain on the employee’s profile for ongoing reference. This ensures the information is preserved over time and available for OSHA reporting or internal review. The OSHA reports available in Empeon pull directly from these recorded incidents saved on the Employee Profile.

Available OSHA Reports in Empeon Workforce

Empeon offers three Standard Reports to support OSHA filing requirements: OSHA Form 300, OSHA Form 300A, and OSHA Form 301. These reports pull from recorded incident data and are formatted to align with OSHA’s official reporting guidelines.

In addition to the standard reports, a Live Report titled Employee Workplace Incidents is also available. This report provides a real-time view of employees with recorded OSHA-related incidents and can be filtered or grouped as needed for internal tracking and follow-up.