What the OSHA 300 log is
The OSHA 300 log — formally the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses — is where covered employers record every work-related death, injury, and illness that meets OSHA's recording criteria [29 CFR 1904]. It is one of three linked forms: the 300 log itself (the running list), the 301 incident report (one detailed report per case), and the 300A annual summary (the totals you certify and post every February). Together they are the paper trail behind your TRIR, your workers' comp story, and — in any inspection — the first documents a compliance officer asks to see.
Each recordable case must be entered on the 300 log within seven calendar days of learning about it [1904.29(b)(3)]. Many employers use their workers' compensation first-report-of-injury form in place of the 301, which OSHA permits as long as it captures the same information.
Who has to keep one
Two exemptions cover everyone who doesn't. First, size: if your company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year — counting every employee company-wide, including temporary and part-time workers — you are exempt from routine recordkeeping [1904.1]. Eleven employees for one week in July ends the exemption for the following year. Second, industry: establishments in certain low-hazard industries — many retail, finance, and professional-services NAICS codes — are partially exempt regardless of size [1904.2, Appendix A to Subpart B].
Neither exemption touches severe-incident reporting. Every employer must report a work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours, and any inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours [1904.39]. That obligation has no size floor and no industry carve-out.
300 vs. 300A vs. 301
| Form | What it is | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| OSHA 300 | Running log of every recordable case — one line each | Entry within 7 calendar days of learning of the case |
| OSHA 301 | Detailed incident report per case (a workers' comp first report can substitute) | Within 7 calendar days |
| OSHA 300A | Annual summary of totals, certified by a company executive | Posted Feb 1 – Apr 30 · e-filed by Mar 2 where required |
What makes a case recordable
A case is recordable when it is work-related, is a new case, and results in at least one of the following [1904.7]: death; days away from work; restricted work or transfer to another job; medical treatment beyond first aid; loss of consciousness; or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional — think fractured bones or a punctured eardrum — even when none of the other criteria are met.
Work-related is broader than most managers assume. An event or exposure in the work environment that caused or contributed to the condition, or significantly aggravated a pre-existing one, is presumed work-related unless a specific exception applies [1904.5]. Fault is irrelevant — fault is a workers' comp question. Recordability is a mechanical test, and if you are staring at a specific case wondering which way it goes, that is exactly what the free OSHA 300 recordability checker is for.
The first-aid list — the whole thing
"Medical treatment beyond first aid" sounds like a judgment call. It isn't. OSHA published a complete, closed list of what counts as first aid [1904.7(b)(5)(ii)]. If the treatment is on this list, the treatment alone does not make the case recordable; if it is not on the list, it is medical treatment. The full list:
- Non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength
- Tetanus immunizations
- Cleaning, flushing, or soaking wounds on the skin surface
- Wound coverings: bandages, Band-Aids, gauze pads, butterfly bandages, Steri-Strips
- Hot or cold therapy
- Non-rigid means of support, such as elastic bandages, wraps, or non-rigid back belts
- Temporary immobilization devices used to transport a victim (splints, slings, neck collars, back boards)
- Drilling a fingernail or toenail to relieve pressure, or draining fluid from a blister
- Eye patches
- Removing foreign bodies from the eye using only irrigation or a cotton swab
- Removing splinters or foreign material from areas other than the eye by irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs, or other simple means
- Finger guards
- Massages (physical therapy and chiropractic treatment are medical treatment)
- Drinking fluids to relieve heat stress
Two classic traps. Prescription medication is always medical treatment — a single dose counts, and so does a prescription that was recommended but never filled. And rigid splints used as treatment are medical treatment; the "non-rigid means of support" entry means elastic wraps, nothing stiffer.
Columns G through M, explained
Every case gets exactly one classification checkbox — the most serious outcome of that case:
| Column | What goes there |
|---|---|
| G | Death |
| H | Days away from work |
| I | Job transfer or restriction (no days away) |
| J | Other recordable cases — medical treatment, loss of consciousness, or a diagnosed significant injury with no days away or restriction |
| K | Count of calendar days away from work |
| L | Count of calendar days on job transfer or restriction |
| M | Case type: injury, skin disorder, respiratory condition, poisoning, hearing loss, or all other illnesses |
Day counting causes most of the errors. Count calendar days — weekends and holidays included, whether or not the employee was scheduled to work. Never count the day of the injury. Stop counting at 180 days [1904.7(b)(3)]. If a case involves both days away and restriction at different points, check the more serious box (H) and record days in both K and L.
The posting window: February 1 to April 30
Every covered establishment must post the 300A summary — not the 300 log itself — in a conspicuous place from February 1 through April 30, covering the previous calendar year [1904.32]. A company executive must certify it after actually examining the underlying log: an owner, a corporate officer, the highest-ranking official working at the establishment, or that person's immediate supervisor. Zero recordables? You still post, with zeros. Skipping it is a posting-requirement violation worth up to $16,550 — see the current penalty table — which makes it the most avoidable citation in the book.
Electronic submission: the March 2 deadline
Separate from posting, many establishments must also submit their data electronically through OSHA's Injury Tracking Application (ITA) by March 2 each year [1904.41]:
- Establishments with 20–249 employees in designated higher-hazard industries submit 300A summary data.
- Establishments with 250 or more employees that are required to keep records submit 300A summary data.
- Establishments with 100 or more employees in the highest-hazard designated industries also submit detailed 300 and 301 data, with employee names and identifying details excluded.
Note the unit: employee counts here are per establishment, not company-wide — the reverse of the small-employer exemption. That asymmetry trips someone up every single year.
Retention: five years
Keep the 300 log, the 300A, and the 301 reports for five years following the end of the calendar year they cover [1904.33]. During that period you must keep the 300 log itself current — newly discovered cases and changed classifications get updated. The 300A and 301 forms do not have to be revised.
The mistakes that show up in every audit
- Recording first-aid-only cases. They don't belong on the log, and they inflate your TRIR — the number your customers and insurers actually read.
- Missing restricted-work cases. Light duty that keeps an employee from performing any routine job function, or from working a full shift, is column I — not a free pass.
- Counting days wrong. Calendar days, not scheduled days; skip the day of injury; cap at 180.
- Confusing recordable with reportable. The log and the 8/24-hour phone call to OSHA are separate obligations with separate clocks.
- Forgetting privacy cases. For certain sensitive injuries and illnesses, enter "privacy case" instead of the employee's name and keep a separate confidential list [1904.29(b)(7)].
- Rubber-stamping the 300A. The executive certification is a legal attestation that the summary was checked against the log. Someone senior should actually do that.
- Posting but not e-filing. The Feb 1 posting and the March 2 ITA submission are both required where the rule applies. One does not satisfy the other.
From log to rate
Your 300A totals feed directly into your TRIR and DART rate — the numbers general contractors and insurers judge you by. Run them in seconds with the incident rate calculator, and see the TRIR guide with 2024 BLS benchmarks to find out where you stand against your industry.