OSHA Compliance Insights
Expert advice, compliance guides, and recordkeeping tips to help you maintain a safer workplace and avoid costly penalties.
Can Employees See the OSHA 300 Log? Access Rights Under 1904.35
Yes — and it's a right with a deadline. Under 29 CFR 1904.35 your employees, former employees, and their representatives can get a copy of the 300 Log, names included, by the end of the next business day. Here's exactly who's entitled to what, why the 301 is different, and the reporting-procedure duty that lives in the same rule.
How Long Do You Have to Keep OSHA Records? The 5-Year Retention and Update-the-Log Rule
OSHA records have to be kept for five years — but the part most employers miss is that the 300 Log has to stay alive during that window, while the 300A summary and 301 reports do not. Here's the retention rule, the update duty, and the deadlines that come with them.
Privacy Concern Cases: The Six Times OSHA Tells You NOT to Write the Employee's Name
On the OSHA 300 Log, you almost always enter the injured employee's name. But for six specific categories of case, writing the name is itself the mistake. Here's the exhaustive list under 29 CFR 1904.29(b)(7), the confidential list you have to keep, and the line employers cross in both directions.
OSHA's 8-Hour and 24-Hour Reporting Rules, Explained (29 CFR 1904.39)
Fatalities within 8 hours; hospitalizations, amputations, and loss of an eye within 24. Here's exactly what 29 CFR 1904.39 requires, the definitions that trip employers up (an ER visit isn't a hospitalization), the time windows, how to report, and what happens after.
Who Records a Temp Worker's Injury — the Host Employer or the Staffing Agency?
Under 29 CFR 1904.31, the employer that provides day-to-day supervision records a temp worker's injury — and that's usually the host, not the staffing agency. Here's how the supervision test works, plus PEOs, leased workers, contractors, and the enforcement risk of getting it wrong.
What Happens When OSHA Shows Up Under the Heat NEP: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough for Small Employers (2026)
Under OSHA's revised Heat NEP (Directive CPL 03-00-024, April 10, 2026), inspectors can show up on any heat priority day in 55 targeted industries — and expand non-heat inspections into heat ones. Here's what they actually do, what they ask for, and how to be ready.
Multi-Establishment OSHA Recordkeeping: One 300 Log Per Location and the Rules Multi-Site Employers Miss
Under 29 CFR 1904.30, every establishment expected to operate a year or longer needs its own OSHA 300 Log. Here's how multi-site employers handle traveling employees, short-duration job sites, centralized records, and the ITA — without tripping the rules small companies most often miss.
How OSHA Picks Who to Inspect: The Site-Specific Targeting Program, Explained
OSHA's Site-Specific Targeting program is the agency's main programmed inspection initiative for general industry — and it runs entirely on the 300A data you submit each year. Here's how the list is built, what triggers a visit, and what to do before your next submission.
OSHA's Heat Illness Prevention Standard: How to Prepare Before It's Final
A federal heat safety standard is coming. OSHA is already enforcing heat protections through the General Duty Clause and its National Emphasis Program. Here is what small employers should do now.
5 OSHA Recordkeeping Mistakes That Lead to Citations (and How to Avoid Them)
Recordkeeping violations are among the easiest for OSHA to find and cite. These five mistakes account for the majority of recordkeeping citations — and every one of them is preventable.
OSHA 300A Annual Summary: Deadlines, Calculations, and Common Mistakes
The 300A is a single page that summarizes your entire year of injury and illness data. Getting it right matters — it is posted for your employees, reviewed by inspectors, and submitted to OSHA electronically. Here is how to complete it correctly.