OSHA 300 Log: What It Is and How to Fill It In

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The OSHA 300 Log is the form employers use to record work-related injuries and illnesses, one entry per case, for each calendar year. It is required by the recordkeeping rule of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1904.

Employers with more than 10 employees, outside certain exempt industries, must keep one for each establishment, meaning a single physical location where business is conducted. They must enter each recordable case within seven calendar days and keep the log for five years.

Filling in a line follows the column headings on the form. Deciding whether a case belongs on the log at all is the harder part, and it starts with who must keep a log.

What the OSHA 300 Log is

The OSHA 300 form, formally the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, lists who was hurt or became ill, what happened, and how serious it was. It is one of three linked records OSHA requires covered employers to keep (OSHA, Recordkeeping):

the 300 Log
the 301 Incident Report
the 300A Annual Summary

"OSHA 300 logs" in the plural, or simply "OSHA logs," means the set a company keeps. That is a separate log for each physical location expected to operate for a year or longer, and a new log each calendar year (OSHA recordkeeping forms package). Listing a case does not mean the employer or worker was at fault, or that it qualifies for workers' compensation (29 CFR 1904.0).

OSHA Form 300 is a fillable PDF on OSHA's recordkeeping forms page. You can use an equivalent form instead, including one kept on a computer. It must hold the same information, be as readable and understandable, and be completed using the same instructions (29 CFR 1904.29).

Who must keep it

The OSHA 300 Log requirements apply to many employers, but not all. There are two partial exemptions.

Company size. If your company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year, you do not need to keep the log. If it had more than 10 at any time, you do. The count covers the whole company, not each site (29 CFR 1904.1).
Industry. Establishments in certain lower-hazard industries, listed by industry code in Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 1904, are partially exempt whatever their size (29 CFR 1904.2).

Neither exemption removes every duty. You must still keep records if OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tells you in writing. Every employer must also report the most severe cases to OSHA directly, as set out under recordable vs reportable below.

The log covers everyone on your payroll, including executives and part-time, seasonal, and migrant workers. It also covers temporary workers you supervise day to day (29 CFR 1904.31). In a State Plan state, meaning a state that runs its own OSHA-approved program, OSHA's forms package tells you to check with the State Plan whether the exemptions apply. Keeping the log is one of several standing duties in the guide to what OSHA compliance means.

OSHA recordable vs reportable

OSHA reporting and OSHA recordkeeping are separate duties, and the two terms are easy to mix up. An OSHA recordable case is one that meets the recording criteria in the next section and goes on your 300 Log. You keep the log yourself, and OSHA sees it when it asks for your records or when you submit data electronically (29 CFR 1904.40 and 1904.41).

A reportable case is one of the severe events you must tell OSHA about directly. That means a work-related fatality within 8 hours, or an inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours (OSHA, Report a Fatality or Severe Injury). Recording applies to employers who must keep the log. Reporting applies to every employer.

A severe case can be both: report it within the deadline, then decide whether it also meets the recording criteria.

Is it recordable? A decision flow

A case goes on the 300 Log only if it is work-related, is a new case, and meets at least one recording criterion (29 CFR 1904.4). Check every case against these four steps.

Step 1: Is it work-related?

Presume it is if an event or exposure in the work environment caused or contributed to it, or significantly aggravated an existing condition. Then check the nine exceptions in 29 CFR 1904.5. They include symptoms caused solely by something outside work, eating or drinking for personal consumption, and the common cold or flu.

A mental illness counts only if the employee voluntarily gives you a physician's or other licensed health care professional's opinion that it is work-related. If an exception applies, stop here.

Step 2: Is it a new case?

It is new if the employee has no recorded injury or illness of the same type affecting the same part of the body. It is also new if they had one, recovered completely, and a new event or exposure at work brought the symptoms back (29 CFR 1904.6). If it continues a case already on the log, update that line instead.

Step 3: Does it meet a general recording criterion?

Record the case if it results in any of the following (29 CFR 1904.7):

death
days away from work
restricted work or transfer to another job
medical treatment beyond first aid
loss of consciousness, for any length of time
a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional: cancer, a chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum

Step 4: Does a specific case rule apply?

These are recordable under their own sections:

a needlestick or cut from a sharp object contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material (1904.8)
removing an employee from their job under the medical surveillance requirements of an OSHA standard (1904.9)
a hearing loss that meets the test in 1904.10
tuberculosis infection after workplace exposure to a known active case (1904.11)

If the case passes steps 1 and 2 and meets step 3 or step 4, it goes on the log. If a case is still unclear after these steps, OSHA's form suggests calling your local OSHA office (OSHA recordkeeping forms package).

First aid or medical treatment: how to tell them apart

Medical treatment means managing and caring for a patient to combat disease or disorder. It does not include visits solely for observation or counseling, or diagnostic procedures such as X-rays and blood tests (29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)). First aid is a closed list: OSHA calls it complete, so any treatment not on it is medical treatment.

The 14 first aid treatments are:

using a non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength
giving a tetanus immunization
cleaning, flushing, or soaking wounds on the skin surface
using wound coverings such as bandages and gauze pads, or butterfly bandages and Steri-Strips (sutures and staples are medical treatment)
using hot or cold therapy
using non-rigid support such as elastic bandages, wraps, or non-rigid back belts (devices with rigid stays, or other systems designed to immobilize the body, are medical treatment)
using splints, slings, neck collars, back boards, or other temporary immobilization devices while transporting an accident victim
drilling a fingernail or toenail to relieve pressure, or draining fluid from a blister
using 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 with irrigation, tweezers, a cotton swab, or other simple means
using finger guards
using massage (physical therapy and chiropractic treatment are medical treatment)
drinking fluids to relieve heat stress

Recommendations count too. A clinician's recommendation to take a non-prescription medication at prescription strength is medical treatment. If the employee skips a recommended medical treatment, you still record the case.

Worked examples of first aid vs medical treatment

These examples are illustrative, not real cases. Each assumes the injury happened at work and is a new case.

Cut finger, closed on site. A supervisor cleans a warehouse worker's cut and applies Steri-Strips. First aid only, so not recordable.
The same cut, stitched at a clinic. Sutures are medical treatment, so the case is recordable. If the worker is back on full duty the next day, check column J, "Other recordable cases."
Wrist X-ray, no fracture. A clinic X-rays a sore wrist, finds a sprain, and provides an elastic wrap. An X-ray is diagnostic and the wrap is non-rigid support, so with no days away or work restriction, the case is not recordable. A cracked bone on the X-ray would be recordable on diagnosis alone.
Lifting restriction after a strain. A doctor tells the worker not to lift for ten days, and lifting is a routine part of the job. The case is recordable as restricted work: check column I and count the days in column L. A restriction only for the day of the injury does not count (29 CFR 1904.7(b)(4)).

How to fill in each column of the OSHA 300 Log form

Enter each recordable case on the 300 Log, and complete a 301 Incident Report, within seven calendar days of receiving the information (29 CFR 1904.29). Fill in the year and establishment details at the top, then work through columns A to M. The labels and examples below are OSHA's own, from the form (OSHA forms package).

Columns A to C: the person

A, Case no. A unique number, which you also enter on the matching 301.
B, Employee's name. For a privacy concern case, write "privacy case" instead (see below).
C, Job title. For example, "Welder."

Columns D to F: the case

D, Date of injury or onset of illness. The date of the injury, or the date the illness began, as month and day. For example, "2/10."
E, Where the event occurred. For example, "Loading dock north end."
F, Describe injury or illness, parts of body affected, and object/substance that directly injured or made person ill. For example, "Second degree burns on right forearm from acetylene torch."

Columns G to J: how serious the case is

Check only one column, for the most serious outcome. G is the most serious and J the least.

G, Death
H, Days away from work
I, Job transfer or restriction
J, Other recordable cases

If the outcome changes later, draw a line through the original entry and write the new one.

Columns K and L: the days

K, Away from work. The number of days the employee was away from work, counted as set out below.
L, On job transfer or restriction. The number of days on job transfer or restriction, counted the same way.

Count calendar days from the day after the injury, including weekends and days off the employee could not have worked because of it. You may stop counting once days away, days restricted, or the two combined reach 180 (29 CFR 1904.7(b)(3)).

Column M: the type of case

Check one: injury, skin disorder, respiratory condition, poisoning, hearing loss, or all other illnesses.

OSHA 300 Log example

This illustrative example, not a real case, fills in one line for the stitched cut from the worked examples above:

A, Case no. 1, also entered on the matching 301.
B, Employee's name. The worker's name. A cut is a privacy case only when the object carried another person's blood or other potentially infectious material, and this one did not.
C, Job title. "Warehouse worker."
D, Date of injury or onset of illness. The month and day of the cut, for example "3/14."
E, Where the event occurred. For example, "Receiving area, packing station."
F, Describe injury or illness, parts of body affected, and object/substance that directly injured or made person ill. For example, "Cut on left index finger from box cutter."
G to J, Classification. Check J only, "Other recordable cases." The sutures make the case recordable, and the worker had no days away and no restriction.
K, Away from work. No days.
L, On job transfer or restriction. No days.
M, Type. Injury.

Privacy concern cases

For these cases, write "privacy case" in column B instead of the employee's name (29 CFR 1904.29):

an injury or illness to an intimate body part or the reproductive system
an injury or illness resulting from a sexual assault
a mental illness
HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis
a needlestick or cut from a sharp object contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material
any other illness, if the employee voluntarily asks that their name be left off

Keep a separate, confidential list of their names and case numbers. Employees, former employees, and their representatives can ask for a copy of the 300 Log. You must provide it by the end of the next business day (29 CFR 1904.35).

Forms 300, 300A, and 301 compared

The three forms hold different things and have different deadlines:

300 Log: one line per recordable case at the establishment, for the calendar year, entered within the seven-day deadline above.
OSHA Form 301, Injury and Illness Incident Report: the detail of one case, covering what the employee was doing, what happened, the injury, and the object or substance involved. Complete one for each case on the log, on the same deadline.
300A Annual Summary: the year's totals from the log, certified by a company executive. Post it from February 1 to April 30 of the following year.

You post the 300A, never the log: review the log for completeness first, and enter zeros if you had no cases (29 CFR 1904.32).

The company executive who signs the 300A must be one of these (29 CFR 1904.32(b)(4)):

an owner, if the company is a sole proprietorship or partnership
an officer of the corporation
the highest-ranking company official working at the establishment
the immediate supervisor of that official

For the posting dates and the rest of the summary, see the guide to OSHA Form 300A posting requirements and deadlines.

Keep all three forms and the privacy case list for five years after the end of the year they cover. Update stored logs for newly found cases or changed classifications (29 CFR 1904.33). Depending on size and industry, some establishments must also submit data from these forms to OSHA electronically by March 2 each year (29 CFR 1904.41). For who must submit and how, see OSHA's Injury Tracking Application page.

Common mistakes

Each of these, drawn from the rules above, can put a case on the log that does not belong there, or leave off one that does.

Treating a clinic visit as automatically recordable. A visit only for observation, counseling, or diagnostic tests is not medical treatment (see the wrist X-ray example).
Deciding by who gave the treatment. The 14 first aid items are first aid whether a coworker or a physician provides them. Anything beyond that list is medical treatment whoever gives it (29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)).
Leaving off supervised temporary workers. If you direct their work day to day, their cases go on your log.

Two other slips to avoid are missing the 300A posting window and discarding logs before the retention period ends.

Before the 300A goes up, Lancaster Safety's OSHA recordkeeping support has a consultant evaluate your OSHA forms and the injury data behind them. The consultant advises on any changes, to avoid over- or under-recording. To have your log and recordability decisions checked, get a quote for a recordkeeping review.