All employers covered by OSHA are covered by the recording and reporting provisions of the act; however, not every employer must keep OSHA injury and illness records. A partial exemption is available based on the number of employees in an entire organization (10 or fewer). The partial exemption, however, does not apply in the public sector. Rule 0800-1-5-.05(1).

Under T.C.A. § 50-3-910, local governments which elect to develop their own program of self-compliance must include in their written notification of such program with the Commissioner an assurance that the program includes provisions for recordkeeping as effective as the provision of T.C.A. § 50-3-701. Such recordkeeping provisions shall comply with Chapter 0800-1-3 Occupational Safety and Health Record-Keeping and Reporting.

Employers subject to the recordkeeping provisions of the act must record any work-related fatality, injury or illness of all employees on the payroll that meets the recording criteria established by the 29 CFR § 1904.4(a), whether they are labor, executive, hourly, salaried, part-time, seasonal, or migrant workers. You must also record the recordable injuries and illnesses that occur to employees who are not on your payroll (as a result of leasing or a temporary employment service) if you supervise them on a day-to-day basis. Self-employed individuals are not covered by the OSHA act or these regulations. 29 CFR 1904.31(a).