Your restaurant risks OSHA recordkeeping violations and fines during a surprise inspection without the completed OSHA 300A summary posted by the mandatory deadline. This federal OSHA Form 300A - Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, required for Dallas establishments under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), is also known as the Injury and Illness Summary. Key facts:
Analyzed from OSHA Form 300A - Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
83% from one compliance interview
Manual entry or document upload required
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) mandates that most employers with more than 10 employees keep a log of work-related injuries and illnesses. The OSHA Form 300A is the annual summary of that log. In Texas, which has no state OSHA plan, this federal requirement is directly enforced by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). There is no local Dallas ordinance that supersedes this; every covered restaurant in Dallas must comply with the same federal rule. The form itself is a one-page summary that tallies total cases, days away from work, job transfers, and other key metrics from the detailed Form 300 log kept throughout the year.
Failing to complete, certify, or post this summary triggers significant legal and financial consequences. The penalties are not suggestions—they are fines assessed per violation. Based on the 2024 penalty structure, violations for failure to keep or post records include:
Legal code: Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act)
Recent update: For the 2023 reporting year (summary posted in 2024), the deadline for electronic submission of Form 300A data to OSHA's ITA platform was March 2, 2024, applying to establishments with 100 or more employees in certain high-hazard industries, including full-service restaurants.
| Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant (Full-Service) | Required | Required if you had 10 or more employees at any time in the last calendar year, as per OSHA's recordkeeping rule (29 CFR 1904.39). |
| Bar / Nightclub | Required | Required if you had 10 or more employees at any time in the last calendar year, as establishments classified under NAICS code 7224 are not exempt from OSHA's recordkeeping rule. |
| Food Truck | Required | Required if the food truck operation had 10 or more employees at any time in the last calendar year, as OSHA regulations apply to mobile work sites. |
| Coffee Shop / Café | Required | Required if you had 10 or more employees at any time in the last calendar year, as per the general industry threshold in 29 CFR 1904.1. |
See which restaurant types need this requirement — and which don't.
See Full Requirements →Enter the total number of recordable work-related injuries and illnesses from your completed OSHA Form 300 log for the calendar year.
COMMON MISTAKE: Entering zero without reviewing the detailed definition of a 'recordable' incident per OSHA 29 CFR 1904, or including non-work-related incidents.
Enter the total number of hours worked by all employees at this establishment for the year, which you can calculate from payroll records.
COMMON MISTAKE: Using estimated or rounded figures instead of accurate payroll data, or including hours for contractors or non-employees.
Enter the calculated incidence rate, which is (N * 200,000) / H, where N is the total injuries/illnesses and H is total hours worked.
COMMON MISTAKE: Manually calculating this field incorrectly instead of letting ApronPrep auto-calculate it based on the previous two entries.
Enter the total count of cases that resulted in days away from work, job transfer, or restricted work activity, as tallied from your Form 300.
COMMON MISTAKE: Misunderstanding the DART definition and failing to count cases involving only restricted work or job transfer.
Enter the total hours worked by all employees, which should match the figure entered for the Total Recordable Case Rate calculation.
COMMON MISTAKE: Using a different number of hours for the DART rate than for the total rate, which creates an inconsistency.
Enter the calculated DART rate, which is (Number of DART Cases * 200,000) / Total Hours Worked.
COMMON MISTAKE: Manually calculating this rate, which often leads to arithmetic errors and data mismatches.
Enter the four-digit calendar year (e.g., 2026) for which this summary report is being filed.
COMMON MISTAKE: Entering the current fiscal year, the year the report is being *submitted*, or a two-digit year format.
Enter the legal business name of your establishment exactly as it appears on your OSHA Form 300 log and other official documents.
COMMON MISTAKE: Using a DBA (Doing Business As) name, a nickname, or an abbreviated name that does not match your official records.
Enter the city where your establishment is physically located.
COMMON MISTAKE: Entering a mailing address city, a corporate headquarters city, or a postal code instead of the physical location city.
Enter the two-letter postal abbreviation for the state where your establishment is physically located.
COMMON MISTAKE: Writing out the full state name, using an outdated abbreviation, or entering the state abbreviation for a corporate office.
ApronPrep auto-fills 164 of 198 fields from a single compliance interview — no re-typing, no guessing what the government expects.
Posting only the OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) instead of the required Form 300A (Summary), or failing to ensure the posted 300A is fully completed and certified. OSHA inspectors routinely check for this during inspections. This mistake can result in a citation and fine under 29 CFR 1904.32(b)(6) for failure to post the annual summary. To avoid it, verify you are posting the 300A Summary, ensure every column (G, H, I, J) is filled with numbers or zeros, and that an executive certifies it at the bottom before posting from February 1 to April 30.
Entering an incorrect number in Column B (Total hours worked by all employees last year), often by omitting hours for part-time, temporary, or owner/executive employees. This figure is critical as it's the denominator for calculating incident rates. An underreported hour count inflates your incident rates, which can trigger a programmed OSHA inspection. To avoid it, sum the hours for every employee on your payroll, including salaried workers (use 40 hours/week x 52 weeks as a base) and part-time staff, as recorded in your payroll or timekeeping system for the entire calendar year.
Logging an injury on the Form 300 Log but failing to correctly carry it over to the Form 300A Summary totals in Columns G-I (number of cases). Common errors include omitting recordable cases that did not involve days away from work or job transfer/restriction (Column H), or double-counting cases. This creates an inaccurate summary that misrepresents your safety record. To avoid it, use the totals from your completed Form 300 Log: Column H on the 300A must equal the total from Column H on the 300, and Column I must equal the total from Column I on the 300. Do not manually recount individual cases.
ApronPrep auto-fills 164 of 198 fields from one compliance interview.
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| City | Fee Range | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas | ||
| Houston | ||
| San Antonio |
Review your completed OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) for the entire previous calendar year. Transfer the totals for each column (e.g., number of cases, days away from work, job transfer cases) to the corresponding lines on the OSHA Form 300A. You need your Form 300 log ready, and if you don't have one, you must create it from your incident reports and workers' compensation records. A common tripping point is misclassifying a recordable case or miscalculating total employee hours worked for the year, which is required for Line G.
Fill out every section of the Form 300A accurately, including company name, establishment address (must be the physical Dallas location), industry NAICS code, and the annual employee hour and injury totals. The company executive (owner, partner, officer, or highest-ranking official at the Dallas establishment) must sign and certify the form's accuracy. Have the Form 300A, a calculator for totals, and your signatory's information ready. Many submissions are questioned due to an uncertified form or an incorrect establishment address that doesn't match the reported location.
Physically post the completed and certified OSHA Form 300A in a common area where all employees can see it, such as a break room or near time clocks. The posting must remain from February 1st through April 30th of the current year. You need the printed, certified Form 300A and a secure location for posting. Failure to post for the full required period is a common violation, even if the data was submitted correctly.
This is one of 13 requirements for opening a restaurant in Texas.
federal
local
federal
state
See all co-required forms and how they connect to your compliance dossier.
See All RequirementsThe timeline to have your OSHA Form 300A available is governed by a fixed federal schedule, not by a local review period. The form is not 'approved' by an agency; you must complete and post it internally by February 1st of each year, covering the prior calendar year's data, as mandated by OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1904.32. You maintain it for at least five years, and it must be presented promptly upon an OSHA inspector's request.
There are no government filing fees for completing and posting the OSHA Form 300A. The cost is your internal time to log injuries and illnesses correctly. However, your preparation for this recordkeeping requirement often overlaps with other safety certifications you may need, such as obtaining a Building Permit which has specific fee-based safety plan reviews.
No, the OSHA 300A log does not 'transfer.' It is a location-specific record. If you move your business within Dallas, you must retain the log for your old address for five years and start a new, separate log for injuries and illnesses occurring at the new location. This requirement is independent of other address-specific permits, like a Certificate of Occupancy, which you will also need to secure for the new space.
You do not renew the form; you create a new one annually. The OSHA 300A is a yearly summary. You must review your OSHA 300 Log (the detailed record), create the fresh 300A Summary, certify it, and post it in your workplace from February 1st to April 30th of every year. It must be readily available to all employees.
An OSHA compliance officer will request to see your past five years of OSHA 300 Logs and 300A Summaries. They will verify the posted 300A is for the correct year and is certified. They will cross-check entries on your 300 Log against your required injury and illness records to ensure you are correctly classifying and recording reportable incidents, as per 29 CFR Part 1904. Inconsistencies here can trigger a deeper inspection and potential citations.
This guide is generated from ApronPrep's compliance dossier system, which uses 53 parallel AI authority experts to discover requirements, then downloads actual forms and generates field-level intelligence for each one.
For Texas specifically, we have analyzed compliance dossiers for 3 cities (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio), generating Rich FILs (Form Intelligence Layers) with 198 form fields analyzed for this requirement. Fee data is sourced from actual county department fee schedules, not estimates.
Our data is verified against official government sources and updated when regulatory changes are detected. If you find an error, please report it — accuracy is our core commitment.
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