29 Cfr 1904.4

Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

§ 1904.4

SIC code

Industry description

SIC code

Industry description

525 ............
542 ............
544 ............
545 ............
546 ............
549 ............
551 ............
552 ............
554 ............
557 ............
56 ..............
573 ............
58 ..............
591 ............
592 ............
594 ............
599 ............
60 ..............

725 ...........
726 ...........
729 ...........
731 ...........
732 ...........
733 ...........
737 ...........
738 ...........
764 ...........
78 .............
791 ...........
792 ...........
793 ...........
801 ...........
802 ...........
803 ...........
804 ...........
807 ...........

Shoe Repair and Shoeshine Parlors.
Funeral Service and Crematories.
Miscellaneous Personal Services.
Advertising Services.
Credit Reporting and Collection Services.
Mailing, Reproduction, & Stenographic Services.
Computer and Data Processing Services.
Miscellaneous Business Services.
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair.
Motion Picture.
Dance Studios, Schools, and Halls.
Producers, Orchestras, Entertainers.
Bowling Centers.
Offices & Clinics Of Medical Doctors.
Offices and Clinics Of Dentists.
Offices Of Osteopathic.
Offices Of Other Health Practitioners.
Medical and Dental Laboratories.

61 ..............

Hardware Stores
Meat and Fish Markets
Candy, Nut, and Confectionery Stores
Dairy Products Stores
Retail Bakeries
Miscellaneous Food Stores
New and Used Car Dealers
Used Car Dealers
Gasoline Service Stations
Motorcycle Dealers
Apparel and Accessory Stores
Radio, Television, & Computer Stores
Eating and Drinking Places
Drug Stores and Proprietary Stores
Liquor Stores
Miscellaneous Shopping Goods Stores
Retail Stores, Not Elsewhere Classified
Depository Institutions (banks & savings institutions)
Nondepository

809 ...........

62 ..............
63 ..............

Security and Commodity Brokers
Insurance Carriers

81 .............
82 .............

64 ..............
653 ............
654 ............
67 ..............
722 ............
723 ............

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Services
Real Estate Agents and Managers
Title Abstract Offices
Holding and Other Investment Offices
Photographic Studios, Portrait
Beauty Shops

832 ...........
835 ...........
839 ...........
841 ...........
86 .............
87 .............

724 ............

Barber Shops

899 ...........

Health and Allied Services, Not Elsewhere Classified.
Legal Services.
Educational Services (schools, colleges, universities and libraries).
Individual and Family Services.
Child Day Care Services.
Social Services, Not Elsewhere Classified.
Museums and Art Galleries.
Membership Organizations.
Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management, and Related Services.
Services, not elsewhere classified.

(b) Implementation—(1) What sections
of this rule describe recording criteria for
recording work-related injuries and illnesses? The table below indicates which
sections of the rule address each topic.
(i) Determination of work-relatedness. See § 1904.5.
(ii) Determination of a new case. See
§ 1904.6.
(iii) General recording criteria. See
§ 1904.7.
(iv) Additional criteria. (Needlestick
and sharps injury cases, tuberculosis
cases, hearing loss cases, medical removal cases, and musculoskeletal disorder cases). See § 1904.8 through
§ 1904.12.
(2) How do I decide whether a particular injury or illness is recordable? The
decision tree for recording work-related injuries and illnesses below shows
the steps involved in making this determination.

Subpart C—Recordkeeping Forms
and Recording Criteria
NOTE TO SUBPART C: This subpart describes
the work-related injuries and illnesses that
an employer must enter into the OSHA
records and explains the OSHA forms that
employers must use to record work-related
fatalities, injuries, and illnesses.

§ 1904.4

Recording criteria.

(a) Basic requirement. Each employer
required by this part to keep records of
fatalities, injuries, and illnesses must
record each fatality, injury and illness
that:
(1) Is work-related; and
(2) Is a new case; and
(3) Meets one or more of the general
recording criteria of § 1904.7 or the application to specific cases of § 1904.8
through § 1904.12.

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§ 1904.5

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–11 Edition)

work environment as ‘‘the establishment and other locations where one or
more employees are working or are
present as a condition of their employment. The work environment includes
not only physical locations, but also
the equipment or materials used by the
employee during the course of his or
her work.’’
(2) Are there situations where an injury
or illness occurs in the work environment
and is not considered work-related? Yes,
an injury or illness occurring in the
work environment that falls under one
of the following exceptions is not workrelated, and therefore is not recordable.

§ 1904.5 Determination of work-relatedness.
(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be work-related if an event or exposure in the
work environment either caused or
contributed to the resulting condition
or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work-relatedness
is presumed for injuries and illnesses
resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception in § 1904.5(b)(2) specifically applies.
(b) Implementation. (1) What is the
‘‘work environment’’? OSHA defines the

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46

Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

§ 1904.5

1904.5(b)(2)

You are not required to record injuries and illnesses if . . .

(i) .................

At the time of the injury or illness, the employee was present in the work environment as a member of the general public rather than as an employee.
The injury or illness involves signs or symptoms that surface at work but result solely from a non-work-related
event or exposure that occurs outside the work environment.
The injury or illness results solely from voluntary participation in a wellness program or in a medical, fitness, or
recreational activity such as blood donation, physical examination, flu shot, exercise class, racquetball, or
baseball.
The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee eating, drinking, or preparing food or drink for personal
consumption (whether bought on the employer’s premises or brought in). For example, if the employee is injured by choking on a sandwich while in the employer’s establishment, the case would not be considered
work-related.
Note: If the employee is made ill by ingesting food contaminated by workplace contaminants (such as lead), or
gets food poisoning from food supplied by the employer, the case would be considered work-related.
The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks (unrelated to their employment) at
the establishment outside of the employee’s assigned working hours.
The injury or illness is solely the result of personal grooming, self medication for a non-work-related condition, or
is intentionally self-inflicted.
The injury or illness is caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work.
The illness is the common cold or flu (Note: contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, hepatitis A, or
plague are considered work-related if the employee is infected at work).
The illness is a mental illness. Mental illness will not be considered work-related unless the employee voluntarily
provides the employer with an opinion from a physician or other licensed health care professional with appropriate training and experience (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, etc.) stating that the
employee has a mental illness that is work-related.

(ii) ................
(iii) ................

(iv) ...............

(v) ................
(vi) ...............
(vii) ...............
(viii) ..............
(ix) ...............

(3) How do I handle a case if it is not
obvious whether the precipitating event or
exposure occurred in the work environment or occurred away from work? In
these situations, you must evaluate
the employee’s work duties and environment to decide whether or not one
or more events or exposures in the
work environment either caused or
contributed to the resulting condition
or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.
(4) How do I know if an event or exposure in the work environment ‘‘significantly aggravated’’ a preexisting injury or
illness? A preexisting injury or illness
has been significantly aggravated, for
purposes of OSHA injury and illness
recordkeeping, when an event or exposure in the work environment results
in any of the following:
(i) Death, provided that the preexisting injury or illness would likely
not have resulted in death but for the
occupational event or exposure.
(ii) Loss of consciousness, provided
that the preexisting injury or illness
would likely not have resulted in loss
of consciousness but for the occupational event or exposure.
(iii) One or more days away from
work, or days of restricted work, or
days of job transfer that otherwise
would not have occurred but for the occupational event or exposure.

(iv) Medical treatment in a case
where no medical treatment was needed for the injury or illness before the
workplace event or exposure, or a
change in medical treatment was necessitated by the workplace event or
exposure.
(5) Which injuries and illnesses are considered pre-existing conditions? An injury
or illness is a preexisting condition if it
resulted solely from a non-work-related event or exposure that occured
outside the work environment.
(6) How do I decide whether an injury
or illness is work-related if the employee is
on travel status at the time the injury or
illness occurs? Injuries and illnesses
that occur while an employee is on
travel status are work-related if, at the
time of the injury or illness, the employee was engaged in work activities
‘‘in the interest of the employer.’’ Examples of such activities include travel
to and from customer contacts, conducting job tasks, and entertaining or
being entertained to transact, discuss,
or promote business (work-related entertainment includes only entertainment activities being engaged in at the
direction of the employer).
Injuries or illnesses that occur when
the employee is on travel status do not
have to be recorded if they meet one of
the exceptions listed below.

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§ 1904.6

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–11 Edition)

1904.5 (b)(6)

If the employee has . . .

You may use the following to determine if an injury or illness is
work-related

(i) ..................

checked into a hotel or motel for one or
more days.

(ii) .................

taken a detour for personal reasons .............

When a traveling employee checks into a hotel, motel, or into an
other temporary residence, he or she establishes a ‘‘home
away from home.’’ You must evaluate the employee’s activities
after he or she checks into the hotel, motel, or other temporary
residence for their work-relatedness in the same manner as
you evaluate the activities of a non-traveling employee. When
the employee checks into the temporary residence, he or she
is considered to have left the work environment. When the employee begins work each day, he or she re-enters the work environment. If the employee has established a ‘‘home away from
home’’ and is reporting to a fixed worksite each day, you also
do not consider injuries or illnesses work-related if they occur
while the employee is commuting between the temporary residence and the job location.
Injuries or illnesses are not considered work-related if they occur
while the employee is on a personal detour from a reasonably
direct route of travel (e.g., has taken a side trip for personal
reasons).

(7) How do I decide if a case is work-related when the employee is working at
home? Injuries and illnesses that occur
while an employee is working at home,
including work in a home office, will be
considered work-related if the injury or
illness occurs while the employee is
performing work for pay or compensation in the home, and the injury or illness is directly related to the performance of work rather than to the general
home environment or setting. For example, if an employee drops a box of
work documents and injures his or her
foot, the case is considered work-related. If an employee’s fingernail is
punctured by a needle from a sewing
machine used to perform garment work
at home, becomes infected and requires
medical treatment, the injury is considered work-related. If an employee is
injured because he or she trips on the
family dog while rushing to answer a
work phone call, the case is not considered work-related. If an employee
working at home is electrocuted because of faulty home wiring, the injury
is not considered work-related.
§ 1904.6

of the body but had recovered completely (all signs and symptoms had
disappeared) from the previous injury
or illness and an event or exposure in
the work environment caused the signs
or symptoms to reappear.
(b) Implementation—(1) When an employee experiences the signs or symptoms
of a chronic work-related illness, do I
need to consider each recurrence of signs
or symptoms to be a new case? No, for occupational illnesses where the signs or
symptoms may recur or continue in
the absence of an exposure in the workplace, the case must only be recorded
once. Examples may include occupational cancer, asbestosis, byssinosis
and silicosis.
(2) When an employee experiences the
signs or symptoms of an injury or illness
as a result of an event or exposure in the
workplace, such as an episode of occupational asthma, must I treat the episode as
a new case? Yes, because the episode or
recurrence was caused by an event or
exposure in the workplace, the incident
must be treated as a new case.
(3) May I rely on a physician or other
licensed health care professional to determine whether a case is a new case or a recurrence of an old case? You are not required to seek the advice of a physician
or other licensed health care professional. However, if you do seek such
advice, you must follow the physician
or other licensed health care professional’s recommendation about whether the case is a new case or a recurrence. If you receive recommendations
from two or more physicians or other

Determination of new cases.

(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be a ‘‘new
case’’ if:
(1) The employee has not previously
experienced a recorded injury or illness
of the same type that affects the same
part of the body, or
(2) The employee previously experienced a recorded injury or illness of the
same type that affected the same part

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Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

§ 1904.7

volving days away and an entry of the
number of calendar days away from
work in the number of days column. If
the employee is out for an extended period of time, you must enter an estimate of the days that the employee
will be away, and update the day count
when the actual number of days is
known.
(i) Do I count the day on which the injury occurred or the illness began? No,
you begin counting days away on the
day after the injury occurred or the illness began.
(ii) How do I record an injury or illness
when a physician or other licensed health
care professional recommends that the
worker stay at home but the employee
comes to work anyway? You must record
these injuries and illnesses on the
OSHA 300 Log using the check box for
cases with days away from work and
enter the number of calendar days
away recommended by the physician or
other licensed health care professional.
If a physician or other licensed health
care professional recommends days
away, you should encourage your employee to follow that recommendation.
However, the days away must be recorded whether the injured or ill employee follows the physician or licensed health care professional’s recommendation or not. If you receive
recommendations from two or more
physicians or other licensed health
care professionals, you may make a decision as to which recommendation is
the most authoritative, and record the
case based upon that recommendation.
(iii) How do I handle a case when a
physician or other licensed health care
professional recommends that the worker
return to work but the employee stays at
home anyway? In this situation, you
must end the count of days away from
work on the date the physician or
other licensed health care professional
recommends that the employee return
to work.
(iv) How do I count weekends, holidays,
or other days the employee would not
have worked anyway? You must count
the number of calendar days the employee was unable to work as a result
of the injury or illness, regardless of
whether or not the employee was
scheduled to work on those day(s).
Weekend days, holidays, vacation days

licensed health care professionals, you
must make a decision as to which recommendation is the most authoritative
(best documented, best reasoned, or
most authoritative), and record the
case based upon that recommendation.
§ 1904.7 General recording criteria.
(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to meet the
general recording criteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in
any of the following: death, days away
from work, restricted work or transfer
to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
You must also consider a case to meet
the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if
it does not result in death, days away
from work, restricted work or job
transfer, medical treatment beyond
first aid, or loss of consciousness.
(b) Implementation—(1) How do I decide
if a case meets one or more of the general
recording criteria? A work-related injury
or illness must be recorded if it results
in one or more of the following:
(i) Death. See § 1904.7(b)(2).
(ii) Days away from work. See
§ 1904.7(b)(3).
(iii) Restricted work or transfer to
another job. See § 1904.7(b)(4).
(iv) Medical treatment beyond first
aid. See § 1904.7(b)(5).
(v) Loss of consciousness. See
§ 1904.7(b)(6).
(vi) A significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional. See
§ 1904.7(b)(7).
(2) How do I record a work-related injury or illness that results in the employee’s death? You must record an injury
or illness that results in death by entering a check mark on the OSHA 300
Log in the space for cases resulting in
death. You must also report any workrelated fatality to OSHA within eight
(8) hours, as required by § 1904.39.
(3) How do I record a work-related injury or illness that results in days away
from work? When an injury or illness involves one or more days away from
work, you must record the injury or
illness on the OSHA 300 Log with a
check mark in the space for cases in-

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§ 1904.7

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–11 Edition)

or other days off are included in the
total number of days recorded if the
employee would not have been able to
work on those days because of a workrelated injury or illness.
(v) How do I record a case in which a
worker is injured or becomes ill on a Friday and reports to work on a Monday,
and was not scheduled to work on the
weekend? You need to record this case
only if you receive information from a
physician or other licensed health care
professional indicating that the employee should not have worked, or
should have performed only restricted
work, during the weekend. If so, you
must record the injury or illness as a
case with days away from work or restricted work, and enter the day
counts, as appropriate.
(vi) How do I record a case in which a
worker is injured or becomes ill on the day
before scheduled time off such as a holiday, a planned vacation, or a temporary
plant closing? You need to record a case
of this type only if you receive information from a physician or other licensed health care professional indicating that the employee should not
have worked, or should have performed
only restricted work, during the scheduled time off. If so, you must record
the injury or illness as a case with days
away from work or restricted work,
and enter the day counts, as appropriate.
(vii) Is there a limit to the number of
days away from work I must count? Yes,
you may ‘‘cap’’ the total days away at
180 calendar days. You are not required
to keep track of the number of calendar days away from work if the injury or illness resulted in more than
180 calendar days away from work and/
or days of job transfer or restriction. In
such a case, entering 180 in the total
days away column will be considered
adequate.
(viii) May I stop counting days if an
employee who is away from work because
of an injury or illness retires or leaves my
company? Yes, if the employee leaves
your company for some reason unrelated to the injury or illness, such as
retirement, a plant closing, or to take
another job, you may stop counting
days away from work or days of restriction/job transfer. If the employee
leaves your company because of the in-

jury or illness, you must estimate the
total number of days away or days of
restriction/job transfer and enter the
day count on the 300 Log.
(ix) If a case occurs in one year but results in days away during the next calendar year, do I record the case in both
years? No, you only record the injury or
illness once. You must enter the number of calendar days away for the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log for
the year in which the injury or illness
occurred. If the employee is still away
from work because of the injury or illness when you prepare the annual summary, estimate the total number of
calendar days you expect the employee
to be away from work, use this number
to calculate the total for the annual
summary, and then update the initial
log entry later when the day count is
known or reaches the 180-day cap.
(4) How do I record a work-related injury or illness that results in restricted
work or job transfer? When an injury or
illness involves restricted work or job
transfer but does not involve death or
days away from work, you must record
the injury or illness on the OSHA 300
Log by placing a check mark in the
space for job transfer or restriction and
an entry of the number of restricted or
transferred days in the restricted
workdays column.
(i) How do I decide if the injury or illness resulted in restricted work? Restricted work occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness:
(A) You keep the employee from performing one or more of the routine
functions of his or her job, or from
working the full workday that he or
she would otherwise have been scheduled to work; or
(B) A physician or other licensed
health care professional recommends
that the employee not perform one or
more of the routine functions of his or
her job, or not work the full workday
that he or she would otherwise have
been scheduled to work.
(ii) What is meant by ‘‘routine functions’’? For recordkeeping purposes, an
employee’s routine functions are those
work activities the employee regularly
performs at least once per week.
(iii) Do I have to record restricted work
or job transfer if it applies only to the day

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Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor
on which the injury occurred or the illness began? No, you do not have to
record restricted work or job transfers
if you, or the physician or other licensed health care professional, impose
the restriction or transfer only for the
day on which the injury occurred or
the illness began.
(iv) If you or a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends a work restriction, is the injury
or illness automatically recordable as a
‘‘restricted work’’ case? No, a recommended work restriction is recordable only if it affects one or more of
the employee’s routine job functions.
To determine whether this is the case,
you must evaluate the restriction in
light of the routine functions of the injured or ill employee’s job. If the restriction from you or the physician or
other licensed health care professional
keeps the employee from performing
one or more of his or her routine job
functions, or from working the full
workday the injured or ill employee
would otherwise have worked, the employee’s work has been restricted and
you must record the case.
(v) How do I record a case where the
worker works only for a partial work shift
because of a work-related injury or illness? A partial day of work is recorded
as a day of job transfer or restriction
for recordkeeping purposes, except for
the day on which the injury occurred
or the illness began.
(vi) If the injured or ill worker produces
fewer goods or services than he or she
would have produced prior to the injury
or illness but otherwise performs all of the
routine functions of his or her work, is
the case considered a restricted work case?
No, the case is considered restricted
work only if the worker does not perform all of the routine functions of his
or her job or does not work the full
shift that he or she would otherwise
have worked.
(vii) How do I handle vague restrictions
from a physician or other licensed health
care professional, such as that the employee engage only in ‘‘light duty’’ or ‘‘take
it easy for a week’’? If you are not clear
about the physician or other licensed
health care professional’s recommendation, you may ask that person whether
the employee can do all of his or her
routine job functions and work all of

§ 1904.7

his or her normally assigned work
shift. If the answer to both of these
questions is ‘‘Yes,’’ then the case does
not involve a work restriction and does
not have to be recorded as such. If the
answer to one or both of these questions is ‘‘No,’’ the case involves restricted work and must be recorded as
a restricted work case. If you are unable to obtain this additional information from the physician or other licensed health care professional who
recommended the restriction, record
the injury or illness as a case involving
restricted work.
(viii) What do I do if a physician or
other licensed health care professional
recommends a job restriction meeting
OSHA’s definition, but the employee does
all of his or her routine job functions anyway? You must record the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log as a restricted work case. If a physician or
other licensed health care professional
recommends a job restriction, you
should ensure that the employee complies with that restriction. If you receive recommendations from two or
more physicians or other licensed
health care professionals, you may
make a decision as to which recommendation is the most authoritative, and record the case based upon
that recommendation.
(ix) How do I decide if an injury or illness involved a transfer to another job? If
you assign an injured or ill employee
to a job other than his or her regular
job for part of the day, the case involves transfer to another job. Note:
This does not include the day on which
the injury or illness occurred.
(x) Are transfers to another job recorded
in the same way as restricted work cases?
Yes, both job transfer and restricted
work cases are recorded in the same
box on the OSHA 300 Log. For example,
if you assign, or a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that you assign, an injured
or ill worker to his or her routine job
duties for part of the day and to another job for the rest of the day, the injury or illness involves a job transfer.
You must record an injury or illness
that involves a job transfer by placing
a check in the box for job transfer.
(xi) How do I count days of job transfer
or restriction? You count days of job

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§ 1904.7

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–11 Edition)

transfer or restriction in the same way
you count days away from work, using
§ 1904.7(b)(3)(i) to (viii), above. The only
difference is that, if you permanently
assign the injured or ill employee to a
job that has been modified or permanently changed in a manner that eliminates the routine functions the employee was restricted from performing,
you may stop the day count when the
modification or change is made permanent. You must count at least one day
of restricted work or job transfer for
such cases.
(5) How do I record an injury or illness
that involves medical treatment beyond
first aid? If a work-related injury or illness results in medical treatment beyond first aid, you must record it on
the OSHA 300 Log. If the injury or illness did not involve death, one or more
days away from work, one or more
days of restricted work, or one or more
days of job transfer, you enter a check
mark in the box for cases where the
employee received medical treatment
but remained at work and was not
transferred or restricted.
(i) What is the definition of medical
treatment? ‘‘Medical treatment’’ means
the management and care of a patient
to combat disease or disorder. For the
purposes of part 1904, medical treatment does not include:
(A) Visits to a physician or other licensed health care professional solely
for observation or counseling;
(B) The conduct of diagnostic procedures, such as x-rays and blood tests,
including the administration of prescription medications used solely for
diagnostic purposes (e.g., eye drops to
dilate pupils); or
(C) ‘‘First aid’’ as defined in paragraph
(b)(5)(ii) of this section.
(ii) What is ‘‘first aid’’? For the purposes of part 1904, ‘‘first aid’’ means the
following:
(A) Using a non-prescription medication at nonprescription strength (for
medications available in both prescription and non-prescription form, a recommendation by a physician or other
licensed health care professional to use
a non-prescription medication at prescription strength is considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes);

(B) Administering tetanus immunizations (other immunizations, such as
Hepatitis B vaccine or rabies vaccine,
are considered medical treatment);
(C) Cleaning, flushing or soaking
wounds on the surface of the skin;
(D) Using wound coverings such as
bandages, Band-AidsTM, gauze pads,
etc.; or using butterfly bandages or
Steri-StripsTM (other wound closing devices such as sutures, staples, etc., are
considered medical treatment);
(E) Using hot or cold therapy;
(F) Using any non-rigid means of support, such as elastic bandages, wraps,
non-rigid back belts, etc. (devices with
rigid stays or other systems designed
to immobilize parts of the body are
considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes);
(G) Using temporary immobilization
devices while transporting an accident
victim (e.g., splints, slings, neck collars, back boards, etc.).
(H) Drilling of a fingernail or toenail
to relieve pressure, or draining fluid
from a blister;
(I) Using eye patches;
(J) Removing foreign bodies from the
eye using only irrigation or a cotton
swab;
(K) Removing splinters or foreign
material from areas other than the eye
by irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs or
other simple means;
(L) Using finger guards;
(M) Using massages (physical therapy
or chiropractic treatment are considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes); or
(N) Drinking fluids for relief of heat
stress.
(iii) Are any other procedures included
in first aid? No, this is a complete list of
all treatments considered first aid for
part 1904 purposes.
(iv) Does the professional status of the
person providing the treatment have any
effect on what is considered first aid or
medical treatment? No, OSHA considers
the treatments listed in § 1904.7(b)(5)(ii)
of this part to be first aid regardless of
the professional status of the person
providing the treatment. Even when
these treatments are provided by a
physician or other licensed health care
professional, they are considered first

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Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

§ 1904.8

restrictions are not recommended, or are
postponed, in a particular case.

aid for the purposes of part 1904. Similarly, OSHA considers treatment beyond first aid to be medical treatment
even when it is provided by someone
other than a physician or other licensed health care professional.
(v) What if a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends medical treatment but the employee does not follow the recommendation? If a physician or other licensed
health care professional recommends
medical treatment, you should encourage the injured or ill employee to follow that recommendation. However,
you must record the case even if the injured or ill employee does not follow
the physician or other licensed health
care professional’s recommendation.
(6) Is every work-related injury or illness case involving a loss of consciousness
recordable? Yes, you must record a
work-related injury or illness if the
worker becomes unconscious, regardless of the length of time the employee
remains unconscious.
(7) What is a ‘‘significant’’ diagnosed injury or illness that is recordable under the
general criteria even if it does not result
in death, days away from work, restricted
work or job transfer, medical treatment
beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness?
Work-related cases involving cancer,
chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured
eardrum must always be recorded
under the general criteria at the time
of diagnosis by a physician or other licensed health care professional.

§ 1904.8 Recording
criteria
for
needlestick and sharps injuries.
(a) Basic requirement. You must
record all work-related needlestick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that
are contaminated with another person’s blood or other potentially infectious material (as defined by 29 CFR
1910.1030). You must enter the case on
the OSHA 300 Log as an injury. To protect the employee’s privacy, you may
not enter the employee’s name on the
OSHA 300 Log (see the requirements for
privacy cases in paragraphs 1904.29(b)(6)
through 1904.29(b)(9)).
(b) Implementation—(1) What does
‘‘other potentially infectious material’’
mean? The term ‘‘other potentially infectious materials’’ is defined in the
OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens standard
at § 1910.1030(b). These materials include:
(i) Human bodily fluids, tissues and
organs, and
(ii) Other materials infected with the
HIV or hepatitis B (HBV) virus such as
laboratory cultures or tissues from experimental animals.
(2) Does this mean that I must record all
cuts, lacerations, punctures, and scratches? No, you need to record cuts, lacerations, punctures, and scratches only if
they are work-related and involve contamination with another person’s blood
or other potentially infectious material. If the cut, laceration, or scratch
involves a clean object, or a contaminant other than blood or other potentially infectious material, you need to
record the case only if it meets one or
more of the recording criteria in
§ 1904.7.
(3) If I record an injury and the employee is later diagnosed with an infectious bloodborne disease, do I need to update the OSHA 300 Log? Yes, you must
update the classification of the case on
the OSHA 300 Log if the case results in
death, days away from work, restricted
work, or job transfer. You must also
update the description to identify the
infectious disease and change the classification of the case from an injury to
an illness.

NOTE TO § 1904.7: OSHA believes that most
significant injuries and illnesses will result
in one of the criteria listed in § 1904.7(a):
death, days away from work, restricted work
or job transfer, medical treatment beyond
first aid, or loss of consciousness. However,
there are some significant injuries, such as a
punctured eardrum or a fractured toe or rib,
for which neither medical treatment nor
work restrictions may be recommended. In
addition, there are some significant progressive diseases, such as byssinosis, silicosis,
and some types of cancer, for which medical
treatment or work restrictions may not be
recommended at the time of diagnosis but
are likely to be recommended as the disease
progresses. OSHA believes that cancer,
chronic irreversible diseases, fractured or
cracked bones, and punctured eardrums are
generally considered significant injuries and
illnesses, and must be recorded at the initial
diagnosis even if medical treatment or work

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§ 1904.9

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–11 Edition)

(4) What if one of my employees is
splashed or exposed to blood or other potentially infectious material without being
cut or scratched? Do I need to record this
incident? You need to record such an incident on the OSHA 300 Log as an illness if:
(i) It results in the diagnosis of a
bloodborne illness, such as HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C; or
(ii) It meets one or more of the recording criteria in § 1904.7.

that the employee has experienced a
work-related Standard Threshold Shift
(STS) in hearing in one or both ears,
and the employee’s total hearing level
is 25 decibels (dB) or more above
audiometric zero (averaged at 2000,
3000, and 4000 Hz) in the same ear(s) as
the STS, you must record the case on
the OSHA 300 Log.
(b) Implementation—(1) What is a
Standard Threshold Shift? A Standard
Threshold Shift, or STS, is defined in
the occupational noise exposure standard at 29 CFR 1910.95(g)(10)(i) as a
change in hearing threshold, relative
to the baseline audiogram for that employee, of an average of 10 decibels (dB)
or more at 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz (Hz)
in one or both ears.
(2) How do I evaluate the current
audiogram to determine whether an employee has an STS and a 25–dB hearing
level?—(i) STS. If the employee has
never previously experienced a recordable hearing loss, you must compare
the employee’s current audiogram with
that employee’s baseline audiogram. If
the employee has previously experienced a recordable hearing loss, you
must compare the employee’s current
audiogram with the employee’s revised
baseline audiogram (the audiogram reflecting the employee’s previous recordable hearing loss case).
(ii) 25–dB loss. Audiometric test results reflect the employee’s overall
hearing ability in comparison to
audiometric zero. Therefore, using the
employee’s current audiogram, you
must use the average hearing level at
2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz to determine
whether or not the employee’s total
hearing level is 25 dB or more.
(3) May I adjust the current audiogram
to reflect the effects of aging on hearing?
Yes. When you are determining whether an STS has occurred, you may age
adjust the employee’s current audiogram results by using Tables F–1 or F–
2, as appropriate, in appendix F of 29
CFR 1910.95. You may not use an age
adjustment when determining whether
the employee’s total hearing level is 25
dB or more above audiometric zero.
(4) Do I have to record the hearing loss
if I am going to retest the employee’s
hearing? No, if you retest the employee’s hearing within 30 days of the first
test, and the retest does not confirm

§ 1904.9 Recording criteria for cases
involving medical removal under
OSHA standards.
(a) Basic requirement. If an employee
is medically removed under the medical surveillance requirements of an
OSHA standard, you must record the
case on the OSHA 300 Log.
(b) Implementation—(1) How do I classify medical removal cases on the OSHA
300 Log? You must enter each medical
removal case on the OSHA 300 Log as
either a case involving days away from
work or a case involving restricted
work activity, depending on how you
decide to comply with the medical removal requirement. If the medical removal is the result of a chemical exposure, you must enter the case on the
OSHA 300 Log by checking the ‘‘poisoning’’ column.
(2) Do all of OSHA’s standards have
medical removal provisions? No, some
OSHA standards, such as the standards
covering bloodborne pathogens and
noise, do not have medical removal
provisions. Many OSHA standards that
cover specific chemical substances
have medical removal provisions.
These standards include, but are not
limited to, lead, cadmium, methylene
chloride, formaldehyde, and benzene.
(3) Do I have to record a case where I
voluntarily removed the employee from exposure before the medical removal criteria
in an OSHA standard are met? No, if the
case involves voluntary medical removal before the medical removal levels required by an OSHA standard, you
do not need to record the case on the
OSHA 300 Log.
§ 1904.10 Recording criteria for cases
involving occupational hearing loss.
(a) Basic requirement. If an employee’s hearing test (audiogram) reveals

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Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor

§ 1904.29

result obtained at a pre-employment physical? No, you do not have to record it
because the employee was not occupationally exposed to a known case of active tuberculosis in your workplace.
(2) May I line-out or erase a recorded
TB case if I obtain evidence that the case
was not caused by occupational exposure?
Yes, you may line-out or erase the case
from the Log under the following circumstances:
(i) The worker is living in a household with a person who has been diagnosed with active TB;
(ii) The Public Health Department
has identified the worker as a contact
of an individual with a case of active
TB unrelated to the workplace; or
(iii) A medical investigation shows
that the employee’s infection was
caused by exposure to TB away from
work, or proves that the case was not
related to the workplace TB exposure.

the recordable STS, you are not required to record the hearing loss case
on the OSHA 300 Log. If the retest confirms the recordable STS, you must
record the hearing loss illness within
seven (7) calendar days of the retest. If
subsequent audiometric testing performed under the testing requirements
of the § 1910.95 noise standard indicates
that an STS is not persistent, you may
erase or line-out the recorded entry.
(5) Are there any special rules for determining whether a hearing loss case is
work-related? No. You must use the
rules in § 1904.5 to determine if the
hearing loss is work-related. If an
event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to
the hearing loss, or significantly aggravated a pre-existing hearing loss, you
must consider the case to be work related.
(6) If a physician or other licensed
health care professional determines the
hearing loss is not work-related, do I still
need to record the case?
If a physician or other licensed
health care professional determines
that the hearing loss is not work-related or has not been significantly aggravated by occupational noise exposure, you are not required to consider
the case work-related or to record the
case on the OSHA 300 Log.
(7) How do I complete the 300 Log for a
hearing loss case? When you enter a recordable hearing loss case on the OSHA
300 Log, you must check the 300 Log
column for hearing loss.

§§ 1904.13–1904.28
§ 1904.29

[Reserved]

Forms.

(a) Basic requirement. You must use
OSHA 300, 300–A, and 301 forms, or
equivalent forms, for recordable injuries and illnesses. The OSHA 300 form
is called the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, the 300–A is the
Summary of Work-Related Injuries and
Illnesses, and the OSHA 301 form is
called the Injury and Illness Incident
Report.
(b) Implementation—(1) What do I need
to do to complete the OSHA 300 Log? You
must enter information about your
business at the top of the OSHA 300
Log, enter a one or two line description
for each recordable injury or illness,
and summarize this information on the
OSHA 300–A at the end of the year.
(2) What do I need to do to complete the
OSHA 301 Incident Report? You must
complete an OSHA 301 Incident Report
form, or an equivalent form, for each
recordable injury or illness entered on
the OSHA 300 Log.
(3) How quickly must each injury or illness be recorded? You must enter each
recordable injury or illness on the
OSHA 300 Log and 301 Incident Report
within seven (7) calendar days of receiving information that a recordable
injury or illness has occurred.

(NOTE: § 1904.10(b)(7) is effective beginning
January 1, 2004.)
[67 FR 44047, July 1, 2002, as amended at 67
FR 77170, Dec. 17, 2002]

§ 1904.11 Recording criteria for workrelated tuberculosis cases.
(a) Basic requirement. If any of your
employees has been occupationally exposed to anyone with a known case of
active tuberculosis (TB), and that employee subsequently develops a tuberculosis infection, as evidenced by a
positive skin test or diagnosis by a
physician or other licensed health care
professional, you must record the case
on the OSHA 300 Log by checking the
‘‘respiratory condition’’ column.
(b) Implementation—(1) Do I have to
record, on the Log, a positive TB skin test

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§ 1904.29

29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–11 Edition)

(4) What is an equivalent form? An
equivalent form is one that has the
same information, is as readable and
understandable, and is completed using
the same instructions as the OSHA
form it replaces. Many employers use
an insurance form instead of the OSHA
301 Incident Report, or supplement an
insurance form by adding any additional information required by OSHA.
(5) May I keep my records on a computer? Yes, if the computer can produce
equivalent forms when they are needed,
as described under §§ 1904.35 and 1904.40,
you may keep your records using the
computer system.
(6) Are there situations where I do not
put the employee’s name on the forms for
privacy reasons? Yes, if you have a ‘‘privacy concern case,’’ you may not enter
the employee’s name on the OSHA 300
Log. Instead, enter ‘‘privacy case’’ in
the space normally used for the employee’s name. This will protect the
privacy of the injured or ill employee
when another employee, a former employee, or an authorized employee representative is provided access to the
OSHA 300 Log under § 1904.35(b)(2). You
must keep a separate, confidential list
of the case numbers and employee
names for your privacy concern cases
so you can update the cases and provide the information to the government if asked to do so.
(7) How do I determine if an injury or
illness is a privacy concern case? You
must consider the following injuries or
illnesses to be privacy concern cases:
(i) An injury or illness to an intimate
body part or the reproductive system;
(ii) An injury or illness resulting
from a sexual assault;
(iii) Mental illnesses;
(iv) HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis;
(v) Needlestick injuries and cuts
from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person’s blood or
other potentially infectious material
(see § 1904.8 for definitions); and
(vi) Other illnesses, if the employee
voluntarily requests that his or her
name not be entered on the log.
(8) May I classify any other types of injuries and illnesses as privacy concern
cases? No, this is a complete list of all
injuries and illnesses considered pri-

vacy concern cases for part 1904 purposes.
(9) If I have removed the employee’s
name, but still believe that the employee
may be identified from the information on
the forms, is there anything else that I
can do to further protect the employee’s
privacy? Yes, if you have a reasonable
basis to believe that information describing the privacy concern case may
be personally identifiable even though
the employee’s name has been omitted,
you may use discretion in describing
the injury or illness on both the OSHA
300 and 301 forms. You must enter
enough information to identify the
cause of the incident and the general
severity of the injury or illness, but
you do not need to include details of an
intimate or private nature. For example, a sexual assault case could be described as ‘‘injury from assault,’’ or an
injury to a reproductive organ could be
described as ‘‘lower abdominal injury.’’
(10) What must I do to protect employee
privacy if I wish to provide access to the
OSHA Forms 300 and 301 to persons other
than government representatives, employees, former employees or authorized representatives? If you decide to voluntarily disclose the Forms to persons
other than government representatives, employees, former employees or
authorized representatives (as required
by §§ 1904.35 and 1904.40), you must remove or hide the employees’ names and
other personally identifying information, except for the following cases.
You may disclose the Forms with personally identifying information only:
(i) to an auditor or consultant hired
by the employer to evaluate the safety
and health program;
(ii) to the extent necessary for processing a claim for workers’ compensation or other insurance benefits; or
(iii) to a public health authority or
law enforcement agency for uses and
disclosures for which consent, an authorization, or opportunity to agree or
object is not required under Department of Health and Human Services
Standards for Privacy of Individually
Identifiable Health Information, 45
CFR 164.512.
[66 FR 6122, Jan. 19, 2001, as amended at 66
FR 52034, Oct. 12, 2001; 67 FR 77170, Dec. 17,
2002; 68 FR 38607, June 30, 2003]

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