How to Fill Out the OSHA 300 Log, Column by Column

How to fill out the OSHA 300 log

The OSHA 300 log (the “Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses”) has one line per recordable case. Under 29 CFR 1904.29(b)(3), each recordable injury or illness goes on the log, and on a 301 incident report, within 7 calendar days of the employer learning about it. Not sure a case belongs on the log at all? Start with which injuries are recordable.

At the top of each page, write the year, the establishment name, and its city and state. Then work across the form in five steps, the same five steps printed on OSHA’s own form:

Step	Columns	What goes there
1. Identify the person	(A) Case no., (B) Employee’s name, (C) Job title	A case number you assign (1, 2, 3…), the worker’s name or “privacy case”, and their job, such as “Carpenter” or “Laborer”.
2. Describe the case	(D) Date of injury or onset of illness, (E) Where the event occurred, (F) Description	The date, the place (“Elm St. job, second floor deck”), and the injury, body part and what caused it (“Cut to left palm from edge of metal stud”).
3. Classify the case	(G) Death, (H) Days away from work, (I) Job transfer or restriction, (J) Other recordable cases	Check one box only: the most serious outcome. G is the most serious, J the least.
4. Count the days	(K) Away from work, (L) On job transfer or restriction	Calendar days, starting the day after the injury.
5. Injury or illness	(M) (1) Injury, (2) Skin disorder, (3) Respiratory condition, (4) Poisoning, (5) Hearing loss, (6) All other illnesses	Check one. Cuts, falls, sprains from a slip and burns are injuries.

Every case on the log also needs an OSHA 301 incident report or an equivalent form (29 CFR 1904.29(b)(2)). Put the same case number on both so they match.

You can download the official forms, with OSHA’s own instructions and a filled-in example, from the OSHA recordkeeping forms page. The rule also allows equivalent forms and computer records, as long as they hold the same information and you can print them when asked (29 CFR 1904.29(b)(4) and (b)(5)).

Who has to keep the log

29 CFR 1904.1 gives a partial exemption to companies that had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year. The count is for the whole company, not one job, and it is based on peak employment: if the company had 11 people on payroll for one week, it had more than 10 that year.

The second exemption, in 29 CFR 1904.2, covers certain low-hazard industries listed in Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 1904. Construction (NAICS codes starting with 23) is not on that list.

Which workers count? 29 CFR 1904.31 says the log covers everyone on the payroll (hourly, salaried, part-time, seasonal) plus workers from a temp or staffing agency if you supervise them day to day. If your business is a sole proprietorship or partnership, the owners and partners are not counted as employees for recordkeeping. A subcontractor’s crew goes on the sub’s log, unless you supervise them day to day.

One more point from 1904.1: even companies that do not have to keep the log must still report a work-related death, in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye to OSHA (29 CFR 1904.39). See OSHA’s reporting page.

One log per jobsite, or one for the company?

Contractors work at many sites, so this question comes up a lot. 29 CFR 1904.30 says:

Keep a separate log for each establishment expected to be in operation for one year or longer (often your shop, yard or office).
Short-term establishments, those that will exist for less than a year, still need records, but you may keep one log that covers all of them. You may also keep one short-term log per division or region.
Every employee must be linked to one of your establishments for recordkeeping. If someone is hurt away from any of your establishments, the case goes on the log of the establishment where they normally work.
You may keep all the logs at your main office if information gets there within 7 calendar days and you can send the records back out on time when someone asks for them.

A worked example

This is a made-up case to show how the columns fit together.

A laborer cuts their left palm on a metal stud on March 14. At the clinic they get four stitches and go back to work the same day with no limits.

Stitches are wound closing devices, which 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)(ii)(D) lists as medical treatment, not first aid. So the case is recordable.
They lost no time and had no restriction, so the most serious outcome is column J, Other recordable cases.
Column M: (1) Injury.

Now say that at a follow-up visit on March 16 the doctor tells him not to grip tools with that hand for five days, and gripping tools is part of his job every day. That restriction keeps him from a routine function (one he does at least once a week, under 1904.7(b)(4)(ii)), so the case changes. Line out the check in J, check I instead, and enter the restricted days in column L. OSHA’s form instructions say to cross out or white out the old entry and write the new one.

How to count days

The day count rules are in 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(3). The ones that come up most:

Do not count the day of the injury. Start counting the next day.
Count calendar days, including weekends and holidays, if the worker could not have worked those days because of the injury.
If a doctor says to stay home and the worker comes in anyway, record the days the doctor recommended.
If the worker is still out at year end, enter an estimate and update it later.
You may stop at 180 days. Entering 180 is enough.
If the worker leaves the company for a reason unrelated to the injury (retires, takes another job), you may stop counting.

Days on restricted work or job transfer (column L) are counted the same way (1904.7(b)(4)(xi)).

Privacy cases

For some cases, the rule does not allow the worker’s name on the log. Write “privacy case” in column B instead and keep a separate, confidential list of case numbers and names (29 CFR 1904.29(b)(6)). The complete list from 1904.29(b)(7):

An injury or illness to an intimate body part or the reproductive system
An injury or illness from a sexual assault
Mental illnesses
HIV infection, hepatitis or tuberculosis
Needlestick injuries and cuts from sharp objects contaminated with another person’s blood or other potentially infectious material
Other illnesses, if the employee asks for their name to be left off

Who can see the log

Under 29 CFR 1904.35(b)(2), current and former employees and their representatives can ask for a copy of the log for an establishment where the worker worked. You have to provide it by the end of the next business day, with names left in (except privacy cases), and the first copy is free.

When an OSHA inspector or another authorized government representative asks for your Part 1904 records, 29 CFR 1904.40 gives you four business hours to provide copies.

Year end and keeping the log

After the year ends, you review the log, total it on the OSHA 300A summary, have a company executive certify it, and post the summary (not the log) from February 1 to April 30. The OSHA 300A guide walks through that.

29 CFR 1904.33 says to keep the log, the privacy case list, the 300A and the 301s for five years after the end of the year they cover. During those five years, the log has to be updated if you learn of a new case or a case’s outcome changes.

Common mistakes

Putting first aid cases on the log. A bandage, an ice pack or over-the-counter pain medicine at normal strength is first aid. The full first aid list is short and exact.
Leaving off temp workers you supervise day to day.
Checking more than one box in G to J. Check only the most serious outcome.
Counting only scheduled workdays instead of calendar days.
Posting the log instead of the 300A summary.
Missing the 7 calendar day window.

The rule text is on osha.gov: 29 CFR 1904.29, 1904.30 and the rest of Part 1904. If you are in a state that runs its own OSHA program, check its rules too (OSHA’s state plan list). This page explains what the rule says; it is not legal advice.

Rules cited: 29 CFR 1904.1, 29 CFR 1904.7, 29 CFR 1904.29, 29 CFR 1904.30, 29 CFR 1904.31, 29 CFR 1904.33, 29 CFR 1904.35, 29 CFR 1904.40. Read the current text at osha.gov.

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How to Fill Out the OSHA 300 Log, Column by Column