OSHA's Site-Specific Targeting Program: What It Means for Your Operation

Every year, OSHA uses injury and illness data that employers submit to decide where to send inspectors. That program is called the Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program, and if your establishment operates in general industry with 20 or more employees, it applies to you.

Understanding how it works is not about gaming the system. It is about knowing what OSHA is looking at and making sure your operation is actually as safe as your records suggest.

What the SST program is

The Site-Specific Targeting program is OSHA's primary programmed inspection initiative for non-construction workplaces. Updated in 2025 under Directive CPL 02-01-067, SST uses injury and illness rate data from employer submissions to identify establishments with elevated rates compared to their industry.

In plain terms: OSHA takes the numbers you submit, compares them to industry benchmarks, and prioritizes inspections at the establishments that stand out. High rates get attention. Patterns get more.

How establishments end up on the list

The SST list is built from OSHA 300A data — the annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses that covered employers are required to submit electronically through OSHA's Injury Tracking Application (ITA).

OSHA looks at total recordable incident rates (TRIR), days away, restricted, or transferred (DART) rates, and other metrics relative to industry averages. Establishments with rates significantly above their industry peers are flagged for potential programmed inspections.

The process is data-driven. It is not personal. But the outcome is real: elevated rates increase the probability that an OSHA inspector shows up at your door.

What the March 2026 submission deadline means

The deadline for submitting calendar year 2025 injury and illness data was March 2, 2026. If your organization was required to submit and did not, that is a compliance issue on its own.

For organizations that did submit, that data is now in OSHA's system. It will inform SST targeting for the coming inspection cycle. This is not a future concern — it is current.

Practical steps to take now

• Confirm your submission was accurate. Errors in your 300A data — whether they inflate or deflate your rates — create problems. Inflated rates attract inspection. Inaccurate records create liability. Review what was submitted and correct it if needed.
• Know your rates and how they compare. Look up your industry's average TRIR and DART rates through BLS data. Know where your establishment stands. If your rates are elevated, understand why before OSHA asks.
• Check your recordkeeping process. Inaccurate recordkeeping is one of the most cited OSHA violations. If your process for determining what is recordable is inconsistent, fix it — not to manipulate numbers, but to ensure accuracy.
• Review your 300 log. Before submitting future data, make sure your 300 log reflects reality. Missing entries and classification errors both create problems during inspections.
• Prepare for the possibility of a programmed inspection. If your rates are elevated, do not wait for OSHA to show up. Conduct an internal review of your highest-frequency injury types and address the contributing hazards.

The bigger point: don't just manage the metric

The SST program creates a real incentive to keep injury rates low. That is not a bad thing. But organizations that focus primarily on rate management — rather than actual risk reduction — often find themselves in a worse position over time.

Rates can be influenced by recordkeeping decisions, return-to-work programs, and claim management. None of those approaches address the underlying hazards. And when OSHA inspects — whether triggered by SST, a complaint, or a serious incident — what they find in the field matters far more than what the 300A shows.

The organizations that manage this well are the ones that treat accurate recordkeeping as a starting point for improvement, not an endpoint. They use their injury data to identify patterns, prioritize hazard controls, and measure whether their interventions are actually working.

Staying off the SST list is a reasonable goal. Building an operation that deserves to be off the list is the right one.