669 HAZWOPER for General Site Workers X

Right to Get Copies of Workplace Injury and Illness Records

• Employers must record any serious work-related injury or illness on the OSHA Form 300. A serious injury or illness is one that required medical treatment other than first aid, restricted work or days away from work. This OSHA Form 300 becomes an ongoing log of all recordable incidents.
• Employers must annually post a summary of the injury and illness log from the previous year (OSHA Form 300A) in a place where workers can see it. Workers and their representatives have the right to receive copies of the full OSHA Form 300 log.

These injury and illness logs are important because they provide a comprehensive guide to possible hazards in the workplace that may need correcting. The logs should be used to focus on areas with high injury and illness rates, and to find and fix hazards to prevent future occurrences. You can get copies of the forms by clicking on the image to the right.

Right to Exposure Data

Many OSHA standards require employers to run tests of the workplace environment to find out if their workers are being exposed to harmful levels of hazardous substances such as lead or asbestos, or high levels of noise or radiation. These types of tests are called exposure monitoring. OSHA gives workers the right to get the results of these tests.

Right to Your Medical Records

Some OSHA standards require medical tests to find out if a worker's health has been affected because of exposures at work. For example, employers must test for hearing loss in workers exposed to excessive noise or for decreased lung function in workers exposed to asbestos. Workers have a right to their medical records. Workers' representatives also have a right to review these records but they must first get written permission from the worker to gain access to their medical information.

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