If you're a general contractor with 11 or more employees at any point during the previous year, there's a form you need to have posted in your workplace right now. The OSHA Form 300A — the Annual Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses — must be displayed in a common area at every establishment from February 1 through April 30 each year.
Miss this deadline and you're looking at citations that can run up to $16,131 per violation. For willful violations, that number jumps to $161,323.
This guide covers exactly what the 300A requires, how to prepare it, common mistakes contractors make, and what changes are in effect for 2026.
What Is the OSHA 300A Form?
The OSHA 300A is a summary document derived from your OSHA 300 Log — the running record of every recordable work-related injury and illness that occurred at your establishment during the calendar year.
The 300A doesn't list individual incidents. Instead, it summarizes totals:
- Total number of deaths
- Total number of cases with days away from work
- Total number of cases with job transfer or restriction
- Total number of other recordable cases
- Total days away from work
- Total days of job transfer or restriction
- Injury and illness types (by category)
- Total number of employees and hours worked
The form must be certified by a company executive — an owner, officer, or the highest-ranking official at the establishment. This signature means the executive has reviewed the 300 Log and believes the summary is accurate and complete.
Who Must Post the 300A
Most construction companies with 11 or more employees at any point during the previous year must maintain OSHA injury and illness records and post the 300A annual summary.
Exemptions:
- Establishments with 10 or fewer employees during the entire previous year
- Certain low-hazard industries (construction is NOT on this exemption list)
- Self-employed individuals with no employees
Important for GCs: The 11-employee threshold includes all employees at all your establishments. If you have a main office with 4 people and a jobsite with 8, you're at 12 — you must post.
The 2026 Timeline
| Date | Action Required |
|---|---|
| January 1 – February 1 | Prepare the 300A from your 2025 OSHA 300 Log |
| February 1 | Post the 300A in a visible, common area |
| March 2 | Electronic submission deadline (if 100+ employees in certain industries) |
| April 30 | Earliest you can take down the posted 300A |
| 5 years from creation | Retain the 300 Log and 300A for OSHA inspection |
How to Prepare the 300A Correctly
1. Review Your OSHA 300 Log
Pull your OSHA 300 Log for the previous calendar year. Every recordable incident should be on it. Cross-check against your incident reports, workers' comp claims, and first-aid logs to make sure nothing was missed.
Common items contractors forget to record:
- Hearing loss identified at annual audiograms
- Musculoskeletal disorders that develop over time (not just acute injuries)
- Heat illness cases requiring more than first aid
- Needle sticks and cuts requiring medical treatment beyond first aid
2. Calculate Totals
Transfer the totals from your 300 Log to the corresponding boxes on the 300A. Double-check your math — arithmetic errors are the most common citation trigger for paperwork violations.
3. Calculate Hours Worked and Average Employees
The 300A requires:
- Annual average number of employees — add up the total employees from each pay period and divide by the number of pay periods
- Total hours worked — all employees, all hours (not just regular time)
These numbers matter because OSHA uses them to calculate your incident rates, which determine inspection targeting.
4. Get Executive Certification
A company executive must sign the 300A. This cannot be delegated to a safety manager or office administrator. The signer is attesting that the summary is accurate based on their review.
5. Post in a Common Area
The 300A must be posted where employees can see it — a break room, time clock area, or central bulletin board. It must remain posted from February 1 through April 30.
For construction companies with multiple jobsites, you need to post at each establishment where employees regularly report.
Common Mistakes Contractors Make
Not posting at all. This sounds obvious, but OSHA inspectors check for the 300A during routine inspections. Not having it posted is an easy citation.
Posting the 300 Log instead of the 300A. The 300 Log contains employee names and incident details. The 300A is the summary — no names, no identifying information. Posting the wrong form is both a violation and a privacy issue.
Failing to post at satellite locations. If you have a permanent field office or a long-term jobsite, it's an establishment. It needs its own 300A based on incidents at that location.
Not certifying the form. An unsigned 300A is an incomplete 300A. Make sure the executive signature is on every posted copy.
Zero entries without review. If your 300A shows zero incidents, that's fine — as long as it's accurate. But OSHA may view a zero-incident summary with skepticism if your experience mod or workers' comp claims tell a different story. Make sure a zero summary is genuinely accurate.
Electronic Reporting Requirements
As of 2026, OSHA requires electronic submission of injury and illness data for:
- Establishments with 100+ employees in certain high-hazard industries (construction is included)
- Establishments with 20-249 employees in designated high-hazard industries must submit the 300A data electronically
The electronic submission deadline is March 2 via OSHA's Injury Tracking Application (ITA) at osha.gov/injuryreporting.
This data is published on OSHA's website — meaning your incident rates are publicly visible. This has implications for your reputation when bidding on projects where safety records are evaluated.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
OSHA recordkeeping violations are "other-than-serious" violations, but the penalties add up:
- Per violation: up to $16,131
- Willful violation: up to $161,323
- Each missing year can be treated as a separate violation
For a contractor missing three years of 300A postings, the potential exposure is nearly $50,000 — and that's before any safety violations found during the same inspection.
How This Connects to Subcontractor Management
If you're a GC managing subcontractors, consider this: your subs' OSHA records reflect on your jobsite. While subs maintain their own 300 Logs, their incidents on your project can trigger an OSHA inspection of your site.
Best practices:
- Request subs' OSHA 300A summaries and experience modification rates during prequalification
- Include OSHA recordkeeping compliance as a contract requirement
- Track sub incidents that occur on your jobsites in your own project safety logs
- Use incident data as a factor in future sub selection
Frequently Asked Questions
What if we had zero recordable incidents? You still must post the 300A with zeros filled in, signed by an executive.
Do I need a separate 300A for each jobsite? If the jobsite qualifies as an "establishment" (fixed location where employees regularly report), yes. Short-term jobsites where the same employees move between projects are typically covered by the home office 300A.
What if an employee is injured on a sub's portion of the work? The employer of the injured worker records the incident on their 300 Log. As the GC, you record it if the injured person is your employee. Track all incidents for project safety reporting regardless.
How long do I have to keep OSHA records? Five years from the end of the calendar year the records cover. You must update the 300 Log during that period if new information becomes available.