Authorized Employee Representative Access to OSHA Injury Records

A union representative gets the 300 Log by the next business day and the 301s' “Tell us about the case” section within 7 calendar days. An authorized employee representative means an authorized collective bargaining agent; other representatives are handled as personal representatives.

Union or representative requests call for a calm process, not an ad hoc email thread.

Employees, former employees, their personal representatives, and authorized employee representatives can ask for your injury records (29 CFR 1904.35(b)(2)). A copy of the relevant 300 Log is due by the end of the next business day, with names left on except for privacy cases. An employee or former employee gets their own 301 by the end of the next business day. An authorized collective bargaining representative gets the “Tell us about the case” section of the establishment's 301s within 7 calendar days. The first copy is free. Government representatives get records within 4 business hours (29 CFR 1904.40). You must also have a reasonable procedure for reporting injuries and must not retaliate against anyone for reporting (29 CFR 1904.36).

Confirm requester status and provide the OSHA records allowed by the rule. Access requests arrive without warning. If privacy fields and descriptions were not reviewed in advance, a next-business-day deadline becomes a rushed redaction exercise. The fix is to keep logs request-ready all year (privacy cases flagged, descriptions reviewed) and to log each request with its time and requester type.

HR leaders sit where recordkeeping meets policy: how employees report, how cases are discussed, and how discipline and incentives are designed.

Teams sometimes send the confidential privacy case list with the public log.

The same log that employees can request is the one inspectors ask for, so descriptions, privacy handling, and reporting procedures are tested by both.

• The requester may be entitled to the log while medical details remain controlled.
• You may not remove names from the 300 Log before giving it to employees or their representatives, except for privacy concern cases.

A union steward at a stamping plant asks for the 300 Log and the 301s. The log goes out the next business day with privacy cases masked. Within 7 calendar days the company sends the “Tell us about the case” section of each 301, with the employee details, provider information, and other fields removed.

1. Verify the representative's authority.
2. Prepare the relevant log.
3. Protect privacy case names.
4. Document what was provided and when.

What to keep in the case file:

• Date, time, requester, and requester type for each request
• What was provided and when
• The privacy review done before release
• Your written injury reporting procedure and how employees were told about it

300log produces an establishment's OSHA 300 Log, with privacy cases masked, or an individual 301 in a couple of clicks, so access deadlines are measured in minutes rather than days.

For a quick answer without an account, use the free deadline calendar.

• OSHA Injury Reporting Procedures: What Counts as Reasonable?
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• OSHA Record Requests During an Inspection: What to Provide and When
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