1904 Record Report

Part 1904 - Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

Subpart A — Purpose
1904.0

Subpart D — Other OSHA Injury and
Illness Recordkeeping Requirements

Purpose
1904.30
1904.31
1904.32
1904.33
1904.34
1904.35
1904.36
1904.37
1904.38

Subpart B — Scope
1904.1
1904.2
1904.3

Partial exemption for employers with 10
or fewer employees.
Partial exemption for establishments in
certain industries.
Keeping records for more than one
agency.

Non-mandatory Appendix A to Subpart B —
Partially exempt industries.

Subpart E — Reporting Fatality, Injury
and Illness Information to the Government

Subpart C — Recordkeeping Forms
and Recording Criteria
1904.4
1904.5
1904.6
1904.7
1904.8
1904.9
1904.10
1904.11
1904.12

Multiple business establishments.
Covered employees.
Annual summary.
Retention and updating.
Change in business ownership.
Employee involvement.
Prohibition against discrimination.
State recordkeeping regulations.
Variances from the recordkeeping
rule.

1904.39

Recording criteria.
Determination of work-relatedness.
Determination of new cases.
General recording criteria.
Recording criteria for needlestick and
sharps injuries.
Recording criteria for cases involving
medical removal under OSHA standards.
Recording criteria for cases involving
occupational hearing loss.
Recording criteria for work-related
tuberculosis cases.
Recording criteria for cases involving
work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

1904.40
1904.41
1904.42

Reporting fatalities and multiple
hospitalization incidents to OSHA.
Providing records to government
representatives.
Annual OSHA Injury and Illness
Survey of Ten or More Employers.
Requests from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for data.

Subpart F — Transition From the Former Rule
1904.43
1904.44
1904.45

1904.13 1904.28 [Reserved]
1904.29 Forms.

Summary and posting of year 2000
data.
Retention and updating of old forms.
OMB control numbers under the
Paperwork Reduction Act
Subpart G — Definitions

1904.46

1

Definitions

2

(2) If your company had more than ten (10)
employees at any time during the last calendar year,
you must keep OSHA injury and illness records
unless your establishment is classified as a partially
exempt industry under §1904.2.

Subpart A — Purpose
§1904.0 Purpose
The purpose of this rule (Part 1904) is to require
employers to record and report work-related
fatalities, injuries and illnesses.

(b) Implementation.

Note to §1904.0: Recording or reporting a
work-related injury, illness, or fatality does not mean
that the employer or employee was at fault, that an
OSHA rule has been violated, or that the employee is
eligible for workers’ compensation or other benefits.

(1) Is the partial exemption for size based on the
size of my entire company or on the size of an
individual business establishment?
The partial exemption for size is based on the
number of employees in the entire company.

Subpart B — Scope
(2) How do I determine the size of my company
to find out if I qualify for the partial exemption for
size?

Note to Subpart B: All employers covered by the
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) are
covered by these Part 1904 regulations. However,
most employers do not have to keep OSHA injury
and illness records unless OSHA or the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) informs them in writing that
they must keep records. For example, employers
with 10 or fewer employees and business
establishments in certain industry classifications are
partially exempt from keeping OSHA injury and
illness records.

To determine if you are exempt because of size,
you need to determine your company’s peak
employment during the last calendar year. If you had
no more than 10 employees at any time in the last
calendar year, your company qualifies for the partial
exemption for size.
§1904.2 Partial exemption for establishments in
certain industries.

§1904.1 Partial exemption for employers with 10 or
fewer employees.

(a) Basic requirement.

(a) Basic requirement.

(1) If your business establishment is classified in a
specific low hazard retail, service, finance, insurance
or real estate industry listed in Appendix A to this
Subpart B, you do not need to keep OSHA injury
and illness records unless the government asks you to
keep the records under §1904.41 or §1904.42.
However, all employers must report to OSHA any
workplace incident that results in a fatality or the
hospitalization of three or more employees (see
§1904.39).

(1) If your company had ten (10) or fewer
employees at all times during the last calendar year,
you do not need to keep OSHA injury and illness
records unless OSHA or the BLS informs you in
writing that you must keep records under §1904.41
or §1904.42. However, as required by §1904.39, all
employers covered by the OSH Act must report to
OSHA any workplace incident that results in a fatality
or the hospitalization of three or more employees.

3

(2) If one or more of your company’s
establishments are classified in a non-exempt industry,
you must keep OSHA injury and illness records for all
of such establishments unless your company is
partially exempted because of size under §1904.1.

(3) How do I determine the Standard Industrial
Classification code for my company or for individual
establishments?
You determine your Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) code by using the Standard
Industrial Classification Manual, Executive Office of
the President, Office of Management and Budget.
You may contact your nearest OSHA office or State
agency for help in determining your SIC.

(b) Implementation.
(1) Does the partial industry classification
exemption apply only to business establishments in the
retail, services, finance, insurance or real estate
industries (SICs 52-89)?

§1904.3 Keeping records for more than one agency.

Yes, business establishments classified in
agriculture; mining; construction; manufacturing;
transportation; communication, electric, gas and
sanitary services; or wholesale trade are not eligible
for the partial industry classification exemption.

If you create records to comply with another
government agency’s injury and illness recordkeeping
requirements, OSHA will consider those records as
meeting OSHA’s Part 1904 recordkeeping
requirements if OSHA accepts the other agency’s
records under a memorandum of understanding with
that agency, or if the other agency’s records contain
the same information as this Part 1904 requires you to
record. You may contact your nearest OSHA office
or State agency for help in determining whether your
records meet OSHA’s requirements.

(2) Is the partial industry classification exemption
based on the industry classification of my entire
company or on the classification of individual business
establishments operated by my company?
The partial industry classification exemption
applies to individual business establishments. If a
company has several business establishments engaged
in different classes of business activities, some of the
company’s establishments may be required to keep
records, while others may be exempt.

4

Non-Mandatory Appendix A to Subpart B — Partially Exempt Industries
Employers are not required to keep OSHA injury and illness records for any establishment classified in the
following Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, unless they are asked in writing to do so by OSHA, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics ( BLS), or a state agency operating under the authority of OSHA or the BLS. All
employers, including those partially exempted by reason of company size or industry classification, must report to
OSHA any workplace incident that results in a fatality or the hospitalization of three or more employees (see
§1904.39).
SIC
Code
525
542
544
545
546
549
551
552
554
557
56
573
58
591
592
594
599
60

Industry Description
Hardware Stores
Meat and Fish Markets
Candy, Nut, and Confectionery Stores
Dairy Products Stores
Retail Bakeries
Miscellaneous Food Stores

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

62
63

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 Institutions (credit
institutions)
Security and Commodity Brokers
Insurance Carriers

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

61

809

Industry Description
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 Physicians
Offices Of Other Health Practitioners
Medical and Dental Laboratories
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

81
82

5

6

Subpart C — Recordkeeping Forms
and Recording Criteria

(iv) Additional criteria.
(Needlestick and sharps injury
cases, tuberculosis cases, hearing
loss cases, medical removal cases,
and musculoskeletal disorder cases)

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.

See
§1904.8
through
§1904.12

(2) How do I decide whether a particular injury
or illness is recordable?

§1904.4 Recording criteria.

The decision tree for recording work-related
injuries and illnesses below shows the steps involved
in making this determination.

(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.
(b) Implementation.

NO

Did the employee experience an
injury or illness?
YES

(1) What sections of this rule describe recording
criteria for recording work-related injuries and
illnesses?

NO

Is the injury or
illness work-related?
YES
NO
Is the injury
or illness a new case?
YES

The table below indicates which sections of the
rule address each topic.
NO

(i) Determination of workrelatedness.

See
§1904.5

(ii) Determination of a new case.

See
§1904.6

(iii) General recording criteria.

See
§1904.7

Do not record the
injury or illness

7

Does the injury or illness meet the
general recording criteria
or the application to specific cases?

Update the previously
recorded injury or illness
entry if necessary.

YES

Record the
injury or illness

8

§1904.5 Determination of work-relatedness.

(iii)

(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. Workrelatedness 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.

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.

(iv)

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.

(b) Implementation.
(1) What is the “work environment”?

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.

OSHA defines the 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 work-related, and therefore is not
recordable.
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.

(ii)

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.

9

(v)

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.

(vi)

The injury or illness is solely the result of
personal grooming, self medication for a
non-work-related condition, or is
intentionally self-inflicted.

(vii)

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.

(viii)

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).

(ix)

(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.

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.

(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.

(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?

(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?

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.

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).

(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.

10

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.
1904.
5
(b)(6)

If the
employe
e 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.

When a traveling employee
checks into a hotel, motel, or
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 nontraveling 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.

(ii)

taken a
detour
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 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 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.

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).

11

(b) Implementation.

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.

(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.

(b) Implementation.

(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?

(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:

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 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.

(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?

§1904.7 General recording criteria.

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 work-related fatality to OSHA
within eight (8) hours, as required by §1904.39.

(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
12

(3) How do I record a work-related injury or
illness that results in days away from work?

(iii) How do I handle a case when a physician or
other licensed health care professional recommends
that the worker to return to work but the employee
stays at home anyway?

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 involving 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.

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?

(i) Do I count the day on which the injury
occurred or the illness began?

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 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 work-related injury or illness.

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?

(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 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.

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
13

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.

when the day count is known or reaches the 180-day
cap.

(vii) Is there a limit to the number of days away
from work I must count?

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.

(4) How do I record a work-related injury or
illness that results in restricted work or job transfer?

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.

(i) How do I decide if the injury or illness resulted
in restricted work?

(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?

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

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 injury 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.

(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.

(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?

(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.

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

(iii) Do I have to record restricted work or job
transfer if it applies only to the day 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
14

(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”?

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?

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 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.

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?

(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?

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.

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.

(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.

(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.
15

(i) What is the definition of medical treatment?

Note: This does not include the day on which the
injury or illness occurred.

“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:

(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.

(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.

(xi) How do I count days of job transfer or
restriction?

(ii) What is “first aid”?

You count days of job 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.

For the purposes of Part 1904, "first aid" means
the following:

(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.

16

(A)

Using a nonprescription medication at
nonprescription strength (for medications
available in both prescription and nonprescription 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-Aids™, gauze pads, etc.; or using
butterfly bandages or Steri-Strips™ (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)

(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 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?

Drinking fluids for relief of heat stress.

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.

(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.

(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
17

(b) Implementation.

physician or other licensed health care professional.
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 restrictions are not
recommended, or are postponed, in a particular case.

(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.

§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)).

(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.

18

(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?

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?

You need to record such an incident on the OSHA
300 Log as an illness if:

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.

(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.

§1904.10 Recording criteria for cases involving
occupational hearing loss.

§1904.9 Recording criteria for cases involving
medical removal under OSHA standards.

(a) Basic requirement. If an employee’s hearing
test (audiogram) reveals that a Standard Threshold
Shift (STS) has occurred, you must record the case
on the OSHA 300 Log by checking the “hearing loss”
column.

(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.
(b) Implementation.
(1) What is a Standard Threshold Shift?
(1) How do I classify medical removal cases on
the OSHA 300 Log?

A Standard Threshold Shift, or STS, is defined in
the occupational noise exposure standard at 29 CFR
1910.95(c)(10)(i) as a change in hearing threshold,
relative to the most recent audiogram for that
employee, of an average of 10 decibels (dB) or more
at 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz in one or both ears.

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) How do I determine whether an STS has
occurred?
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).

(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
19

(3) May I adjust the audiogram results to reflect
the effects of aging on hearing?

§1904.11 Recording criteria for work-related
tuberculosis cases.

Yes, when comparing audiogram results, you
may adjust the results for the employee’s age when
the audiogram was taken using Tables F-1 or F-2, as
appropriate, in Appendix F of 29 CFR 1910.95.

(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.

(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
the STS, you are not required to record the hearing
loss case on the OSHA 300 Log. If the retest
confirms the STS, you must record the hearing loss
illness within seven (7) calendar days of the retest.

(b) Implementation.
(1) Do I have to record, on the Log, a positive
TB skin test result obtained at a pre-employment
physical?

(5) Are there any special rules for determining
whether a hearing loss case is work-related?

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.

Yes, hearing loss is presumed to be work-related
if the employee is exposed to noise in the workplace
at an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 dBA or
greater, or to a total noise dose of 50 percent, as
defined in 29 CFR 1910.95. For hearing loss cases
where the employee is not exposed to this level of
noise, you must use the rules in §1904.5 to determine
if the hearing loss is work-related.

(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:

(6) If a physician or other licensed health care
professional determines the hearing loss is not workrelated, do I still need to record the case?

(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

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.

(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.

20

§1904.12 Recording criteria for cases involving
work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

(iii) Determining if the MSD meets one or more of
the general recording criteria:

(a) Basic requirement. If any of your
employees experiences a recordable work-related
musculoskeletal disorder (MSD), you must record it
on the OSHA 300 Log by checking the
“musculoskeletal disorder” column.
(b) Implementation.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are disorders
of the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints,
cartilage and spinal discs. MSDs do not include
disorders caused by slips, trips, falls, motor vehicle
accidents, or other similar accidents. Examples of
MSDs include: Carpal tunnel syndrome, Rotator cuff
syndrome, De Quervain's disease, Trigger finger,
Tarsal tunnel syndrome, Sciatica, Epicondylitis,
Tendinitis, Raynaud's phenomenon, Carpet layers
knee, Herniated spinal disc, and Low back pain.

See §1904.6

See
§1904.7(b)(4)

(C) Medical treatment
beyond first aid.

See
§1904.7(b)(5)

§§1904.13 - 1904.28 [Reserved]
§1904.29 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.

There are no special criteria for determining which
musculoskeletal disorders to record. An MSD case
is recorded using the same process you would use for
any other injury or illness. If a musculoskeletal
disorder is work-related, and is a new case, and
meets one or more of the general recording criteria,
you must record the musculoskeletal disorder. The
following table will guide you to the appropriate
section of the rule for guidance on recording MSD
cases.

(ii) Determining if the MSD is a
new case.

(B) Restricted work or
transfer to another job, or

The symptoms of an MSD are treated the same
as symptoms for any other injury or illness. If an
employee has pain, tingling, burning, numbness or any
other subjective symptom of an MSD, and the
symptoms are work-related, and the case is a new
case that meets the recording criteria, you must
record the case on the OSHA 300 Log as a
musculoskeletal disorder.

(2) How do I decide which musculoskeletal
disorders to record?

See §1904.5

See
§1904.7(b)(3)

(3) If a work-related MSD case involves only
subjective symptoms like pain or tingling, do I have to
record it as a musculoskeletal disorder?

(1) What is a “musculoskeletal disorder” or
MSD?

(i) Determining if the MSD is
work-related.

(A) Days away from work,

(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.
21

(2) What do I need to do to complete the OSHA
301 Incident Report?

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.

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.

(7) How do I determine if an injury or illness is a
privacy concern case?

(3) How quickly must each injury or illness be
recorded?

You must consider the following injuries or
illnesses to be privacy concern cases:

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.

(i) An injury or illness to an intimate body part or
the reproductive system;
(ii) An injury or illness resulting from a sexual
assault;

(4) What is an equivalent form?
(iii) Mental illnesses;
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.

(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

(5) May I keep my records on a computer?

(vi) Other illnesses, if the employee independently
and voluntarily requests that his or her name not be
entered on the log. Musculoskeletal disorders
(MSDs) are not considered privacy concern cases.

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.

(8) May I classify any other types of injuries and
illnesses as privacy concern cases?

(6) Are there situations where I do not put the
employee’s name on the forms for privacy reasons?

No, this is a complete list of all injuries and
illnesses considered privacy concern cases for Part
1904 purposes.

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).
22

(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?

Services Standards for Privacy of Individually
Identifiable Health Information, 45 CFR.164.512.
Subpart D — Other OSHA Injury and
Illness Recordkeeping Requirements

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.”

§1904.30 Multiple business establishments.
(a) Basic requirement. You must keep a
separate OSHA 300 Log for each establishment that
is expected to be in operation for one year or longer.
(b) Implementation.
(1) Do I need to keep OSHA injury and illness
records for short-term establishments (i.e.,
establishments that will exist for less than a year)?
Yes, however, you do not have to keep a
separate OSHA 300 Log for each such
establishment. You may keep one OSHA 300 Log
that covers all of your short-term establishments. You
may also include the short-term establishments’
recordable injuries and illnesses on an OSHA 300
Log that covers short-term establishments for
individual company divisions or geographic regions.

(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:

(2) May I keep the records for all of my
establishments at my headquarters location or at some
other central location?
Yes, you may keep the records for an
establishment at your headquarters or other central
location if you can:

(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

(i) Transmit information about the injuries and
illnesses from the establishment to the central location
within seven (7) calendar days of receiving
information that a recordable injury or illness has
occurred; and

(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

(ii) Produce and send the records from the
central location to the establishment within the time
frames required by §1904.35 and §1904.40 when
you are required to provide records to a government
23

(1) If a self-employed person is injured or
becomes ill while doing work at my business, do I
need to record the injury or illness?

representative, employees, former employees or
employee representatives.
(3) Some of my employees work at several
different locations or do not work at any of my
establishments at all. How do I record cases for
these employees?

No, self-employed individuals are not covered by
the OSH Act or this regulation.
(2) If I obtain employees from a temporary help
service, employee leasing service, or personnel supply
service, do I have to record an injury or illness
occurring to one of those employees?

You must link each of your employees with one of
your establishments, for recordkeeping purposes.
You must record the injury and illness on the OSHA
300 Log of the injured or ill employee’s
establishment, or on an OSHA 300 Log that covers
that employee’s short-term establishment.

You must record these injuries and illnesses if you
supervise these employees on a day-to-day basis.

(4) How do I record an injury or illness when an
employee of one of my establishments is injured or
becomes ill while visiting or working at another of my
establishments, or while working away from any of
my establishments?

(3) If an employee in my establishment is a
contractor’s employee, must I record an injury or
illness occurring to that employee?
If the contractor’s employee is under the day-today supervision of the contractor, the contractor is
responsible for recording the injury or illness. If you
supervise the contractor employee’s work on a dayto-day basis, you must record the injury or illness.

If the injury or illness occurs at one of your
establishments, you must record the injury or illness
on the OSHA 300 Log of the establishment at which
the injury or illness occurred. If the employee is
injured or becomes ill and is not at one of your
establishments, you must record the case on the
OSHA 300 Log at the establishment at which the
employee normally works.

(4) Must the personnel supply service, temporary
help service, employee leasing service, or contractor
also record the injuries or illnesses occurring to
temporary, leased or contract employees that I
supervise on a day-to-day basis?

§1904.31 Covered employees.
No, you and the temporary help service,
employee leasing service, personnel supply service, or
contractor should coordinate your efforts to make
sure that each injury and illness is recorded only once:
either on your OSHA 300 Log (if you provide dayto-day supervision) or on the other employer’s
OSHA 300 Log (if that company provides day-today supervision).

(a) Basic requirement. You must record on the
OSHA 300 Log the recordable injuries and illnesses
of all employees on your payroll, whether they are
labor, executive, hourly, salary, part-time, seasonal,
or migrant workers. You also must record the
recordable injuries and illnesses that occur to
employees who are not on your payroll if you
supervise these employees on a day-to-day basis. If
your business is organized as a sole proprietorship or
partnership, the owner or partners are not considered
employees for recordkeeping purposes.
(b) Implementation.
24

§1904.32 Annual summary.
(3) How do I certify the annual summary? A
company executive must certify that he or she has
examined the OSHA 300 Log and that he or she
reasonably believes, based on his or her knowledge
of the process by which the information was
recorded, that the annual summary is correct and
complete.

(a) Basic requirement. At the end of each
calendar year, you must:
(1) Review the OSHA 300 Log to verify that the
entries are complete and accurate, and correct any
deficiencies identified;
(2) Create an annual summary of injuries and
illnesses recorded on the OSHA 300 Log;

(4) Who is considered a company executive?
The company executive who certifies the log must be
one of the following persons:

(3) Certify the summary; and
(i) An owner of the company (only if the
company is a sole proprietorship or partnership);

(4) Post the annual summary.
(b) Implementation.

(ii) An officer of the corporation;

(1) How extensively do I have to review the
OSHA 300 Log entries at the end of the year?

(iii) The highest ranking company official working
at the establishment; or

You must review the entries as extensively as
necessary to make sure that they are complete and
correct.

(iv) The immediate supervisor of the highest
ranking company official working at the establishment.
(5) How do I post the annual summary?

(2) How do I complete the annual summary?
You must:

You must post a copy of the annual summary in
each establishment in a conspicuous place or places
where notices to employees are customarily posted.
You must ensure that the posted annual summary is
not altered, defaced or covered by other material.

(i) Total the columns on the OSHA 300 Log (if
you had no recordable cases, enter zeros for each
column total); and
(ii) Enter the calendar year covered, the
company’s name, establishment name, establishment
address, annual average number of employees
covered by the OSHA 300 Log, and the total hours
worked by all employees covered by the OSHA 300
Log.

(6) When do I have to post the annual summary?

You must post the summary no later than
February 1 of the year following the year covered by
the records and keep the posting in place until April
30.

(iii) If you are using an equivalent form other than
the OSHA 300-A summary form, as permitted under
§1904.6(b)(4), the summary you use must also
include the employee access and employer penalty
statements found on the OSHA 300-A Summary
form.
25

(a) Basic requirement. Your employees and
their representatives must be involved in the
recordkeeping system in several ways.

§1904.33 Retention and updating.
(a) Basic requirement. You must save the
OSHA 300 Log, the privacy case list (if one exists),
the annual summary, and the OSHA 301 Incident
Report forms for five (5) years following the end of
the calendar year that these records cover.

(1) You must inform each employee of how he or
she is to report an injury or illness to you.
(2) You must provide limited access to your
injury and illness records for your employees and their
representatives.

(b) Implementation.
(1) Do I have to update the OSHA 300 Log
during the five-year storage period?

(b) Implementation.

Yes, during the storage period, you must update
your stored OSHA 300 Logs to include newly
discovered recordable injuries or illnesses and to
show any changes that have occurred in the
classification of previously recorded injuries and
illnesses. If the description or outcome of a case
changes, you must remove or line out the original
entry and enter the new information.

(1) What must I do to make sure that employees
report work-related injuries and illnesses to me?
(i) You must set up a way for employees to
report work-related injuries and illnesses promptly;
and
(ii) You must tell each employee how to report
work-related injuries and illnesses to you.
(2) Do I have to give my employees and their
representatives access to the OSHA injury and illness
records?

(2) Do I have to update the annual summary?
No, you are not required to update the annual
summary, but you may do so if you wish.

Yes, your employees, former employees, their
personal representatives, and their authorized
employee representatives have the right to access the
OSHA injury and illness records, with some
limitations, as discussed below.

(3) Do I have to update the OSHA 301 Incident
Reports?
No, you are not required to update the OSHA
301 Incident Reports, but you may do so if you wish.

(i) Who is an authorized employee
representative?

§1904.34 Change in business ownership.
If your business changes ownership, you are
responsible for recording and reporting work-related
injuries and illnesses only for that period of the year
during which you owned the establishment. You must
transfer the Part 1904 records to the new owner.
The new owner must save all records of the
establishment kept by the prior owner, as required by
§1904.33 of this Part, but need not update or correct
the records of the prior owner.
§1904.35 Employee involvement.

An authorized employee representative is an
authorized collective bargaining agent of employees.

26

(ii) Who is a “personal representative” of an
employee or former employee?

business day.
(B) When an authorized employee representative
asks for a copies of the OSHA 301 Incident Reports
for an establishment where the agent represents
employees under a collective bargaining agreement,
you must give copies of those forms to the authorized
employee representative within 7 calendar days. You
are only required to give the authorized employee
representative information from the OSHA 301
Incident Report section titled “Tell us about the case.”
You must remove all other information from the copy
of the OSHA 301 Incident Report or the equivalent
substitute form that you give to the authorized
employee representative.

A personal representative is:
(A) Any person that the employee or former
employee designates as such, in writing; or
(B) The legal representative of a deceased or
legally incapacitated employee or former employee.
(iii) If an employee or representative asks for
access to the OSHA 300 Log, when do I have to
provide it?
When an employee, former employee, personal
representative, or authorized employee representative
asks for copies of your current or stored OSHA 300
Log(s) for an establishment the employee or former
employee has worked in, you must give the requester
a copy of the relevant OSHA 300 Log(s) by the end
of the next business day.

(vi) May I charge for the copies?
No, you may not charge for these copies the first
time they are provided. However, if one of the
designated persons asks for additional copies, you
may assess a reasonable charge for retrieving and
copying the records.

(iv) May I remove the names of the employees or
any other information from the OSHA 300 Log
before I give copies to an employee, former
employee, or employee representative?

§1904.36 Prohibition against discrimination.
Section 11(c) of the Act prohibits you from
discriminating against an employee for reporting a
work-related fatality, injury or illness. That provision
of the Act also protects the employee who files a
safety and health complaint, asks for access to the
Part 1904 records, or otherwise exercises any rights
afforded by the OSH Act.

No, you must leave the names on the 300 Log.
However, to protect the privacy of injured and ill
employees, you may not record the employee’s name
on the OSHA 300 Log for certain “privacy concern
cases,” as specified in paragraphs 1904.29(b)(6)
through 1904.29(b)(9).

§1904.37 State recordkeeping regulations.
(v) If an employee or representative asks for
access to the OSHA 301 Incident Report, when do I
have to provide it?

(a) Basic requirement. Some States operate
their own OSHA programs, under the authority of a
State Plan approved by OSHA. States operating
OSHA-approved State Plans must have occupational
injury and illness recording and reporting requirements
that are substantially identical to the requirements in
this Part (see 29 CFR 1902.3(k), 29 CFR 1952.4
and 29 CFR 1956.10(i) ).

(A) When an employee, former employee, or
personal representative asks for a copy of the OSHA
301 Incident Report describing an injury or illness to
that employee or former employee, you must give the
requester a copy of the OSHA 301 Incident Report
containing that information by the end of the next
27

(b) Implementation.

(1) Collects the same information as this Part
requires;

(1) State-Plan States must have the same
requirements as Federal OSHA for determining which
injuries and illnesses are recordable and how they are
recorded.

(2) Meets the purposes of the Act; and
(3) Does not interfere with the administration of
the Act.

(2) For other Part 1904 provisions (for example,
industry exemptions, reporting of fatalities and
hospitalizations, record retention, or employee
involvement), State-Plan State requirements may be
more stringent than or supplemental to the Federal
requirements, but because of the unique nature of the
national recordkeeping program, States must consult
with and obtain approval of any such requirements.

(b) Implementation.
(1) What do I need to include in my variance
petition?
You must include the following items in your
petition:

(3) Although State and local government
employees are not covered Federally, all State- Plan
States must provide coverage, and must develop
injury and illness statistics, for these workers. State
Plan recording and reporting requirements for State
and local government entities may differ from those
for the private sector but must meet the requirements
of paragraphs 1904.37(b)(1) and (b)(2).

(i) Your name and address;
(ii) A list of the State(s) where the variance
would be used;
(iii) The address(es) of the business
establishment(s) involved;
(iv) A description of why you are seeking a
variance;

(4) A State-Plan State may not issue a variance
to a private sector employer and must recognize all
variances issued by Federal OSHA.

(v) A description of the different recordkeeping
procedures you propose to use;

(5) A State Plan State may only grant an injury
and illness recording and reporting variance to a State
or local government employer within the State after
obtaining approval to grant the variance from Federal
OSHA.

(vi) A description of how your proposed
procedures will collect the same information as would
be collected by this Part and achieve the purpose of
the Act; and
(vii) A statement that you have informed your
employees of the petition by giving them or their
authorized representative a copy of the petition and
by posting a statement summarizing the petition in the
same way as notices are posted under §1903.2(a).

§1904.38 Variances from the recordkeeping rule.
(a) Basic requirement. If you wish to keep
records in a different manner from the manner
prescribed by the Part 1904 regulations, you may
submit a variance petition to the Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.
Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20210. You
can obtain a variance only if you can show that your
alternative recordkeeping system:
28

(2) How will the Assistant Secretary handle my
variance petition?

petition.
(4) If I have already been cited by OSHA for not
following the Part 1904 regulations, will my variance
petition have any effect on the citation and penalty?

The Assistant Secretary will take the following
steps to process your variance petition.
(i) The Assistant Secretary will offer your
employees and their authorized representatives an
opportunity to submit written data, views, and
arguments about your variance petition.

No, in addition, the Assistant Secretary may elect
not to review your variance petition if it includes an
element for which you have been cited and the citation
is still under review by a court, an Administrative Law
Judge (ALJ), or the OSH Review Commission.

(ii) The Assistant Secretary may allow the public
to comment on your variance petition by publishing
the petition in the Federal Register. If the petition is
published, the notice will establish a public comment
period and may include a schedule for a public
meeting on the petition.

(5) If I receive a variance, may the Assistant
Secretary revoke the variance at a later date?
Yes, the Assistant Secretary may revoke your
variance if he or she has good cause. The procedures
revoking a variance will follow the same process as
OSHA uses for reviewing variance petitions, as
outlined in paragraph 1904.38(b)(2). Except in cases
of willfulness or where necessary for public safety, the
Assistant Secretary will:

(iii) After reviewing your variance petition and
any comments from your employees and the public,
the Assistant Secretary will decide whether or not
your proposed recordkeeping procedures will meet
the purposes of the Act, will not otherwise interfere
with the Act, and will provide the same information as
the Part 1904 regulations provide. If your procedures
meet these criteria, the Assistant Secretary may grant
the variance subject to such conditions as he or she
finds appropriate.

(i) Notify you in writing of the facts or conduct
that may warrant revocation of your variance; and
(ii) Provide you, your employees, and authorized
employee representatives with an opportunity to
participate in the revocation procedures.

(iv) If the Assistant Secretary grants your
variance petition, OSHA will publish a notice in the
Federal Register to announce the variance. The
notice will include the practices the variance allows
you to use, any conditions that apply, and the reasons
for allowing the variance.

Subpart E — Reporting Fatality, Injury
and Illness Information to the Government.
§1904.39 Reporting fatalities and multiple
hospitalization incidents to OSHA.

(3) If I apply for a variance, may I use my
proposed recordkeeping procedures while the
Assistant Secretary is processing the variance
petition?

(a) Basic requirement. Within eight (8) hours
after the death of any employee from a work-related
incident or the in-patient hospitalization of three or
more employees as a result of a work-related
incident, you must orally report the fatality/multiple
hospitalization by telephone or in person to the Area
Office of the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor,
that is nearest to the site of the incident. You may

No, alternative recordkeeping practices are only
allowed after the variance is approved. You must
comply with the Part 1904 regulations while the
Assistant Secretary is reviewing your variance
29

also use the OSHA toll-free central telephone
number, 1-800-321-OSHA (1-800-321-6742).

recorded on your OSHA injury and illness records, if
you are required to keep such records.

(b) Implementation.

(4) Do I have to report a fatality or multiple
hospitalization incident that occurs on a commercial or
public transportation system?

(1) If the Area Office is closed, may I report the
incident by leaving a message on OSHA’s answering
machine, faxing the area office, or sending an e-mail?

No, if you can’t talk to a person at the Area
Office, you must report the fatality or multiple
hospitalization incident using the 800 number.

No, you do not have to call OSHA to report a
fatality or multiple hospitalization incident if it involves
a commercial airplane, train, subway or bus accident.
However, these injuries must be recorded on your
OSHA injury and illness records, if you are required
to keep such records.

(2) What information do I need to give to OSHA
about the incident?

(5) Do I have to report a fatality caused by a
heart attack at work?

You must give OSHA the following information
for each fatality or multiple hospitalization incident:

Yes, your local OSHA Area Office director will
decide whether to investigate the incident, depending
on the circumstances of the heart attack.

(i) The establishment name;
(6) Do I have to report a fatality or
hospitalization that occurs long after the incident?

(ii) The location of the incident;
(iii) The time of the incident;

No, you must only report each fatality or multiple
hospitalization incident that occurs within thirty (30)
days of an incident.

(iv) The number of fatalities or hospitalized
employees;

(7) What if I don’t learn about an incident right
away?

(v) The names of any injured employees;
(vi) Your contact person and his or her phone
number; and

If you do not learn of a reportable incident at the
time it occurs and the incident would otherwise be
reportable under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this
section, you must make the report within eight (8)
hours of the time the incident is reported to you or to
any of your agent(s) or employee(s).

(vii) A brief description of the incident.
(3) Do I have to report every fatality or multiple
hospitalization incident resulting from a motor vehicle
accident?

§1904.40 Providing records to government
representatives.

No, you do not have to report all of these
incidents. If the motor vehicle accident occurs on a
public street or highway, and does not occur in a
construction work zone, you do not have to report the
incident to OSHA. However, these injuries must be

(a) Basic requirement. When an authorized
government representative asks for the records you
keep under Part 1904, you must provide copies of
the records within four (4) business hours.
30

(b) Implementation.

(2) the number of hours worked by your
employees; and

(1) What government representatives have the
right to get copies of my Part 1904 records?

(3) the requested information from the records
that you keep under Part 1904.

The government representatives authorized to
receive the records are:

(b) Implementation.

(i) A representative of the Secretary of Labor
conducting an inspection or investigation under the
Act;

(1) Does every employer have to send data to
OSHA?
No, each year, OSHA sends injury and illness
survey forms to employers in certain industries. In
any year, some employers will receive an OSHA
survey form and others will not. You do not have to
send injury and illness data to OSHA unless you
receive a survey form.

(ii) A representative of the Secretary of Health
and Human Services (including the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health - NIOSH)
conducting an investigation under Section 20(b) of the
Act, or
(iii) A representative of a State agency
responsible for administering a State plan approved
under section 18 of the Act.

(2) How quickly do I need to respond to an
OSHA survey form?
You must send the survey reports to OSHA, or
OSHA’s designee, by mail or other means described
in the survey form, within 30 calendar days, or by the
date stated in the survey form, whichever is later.

(2) Do I have to produce the records within four
(4) hours if my records are kept at a location in a
different time zone?
OSHA will consider your response to be timely if
you give the records to the government representative
within four (4) business hours of the request. If you
maintain the records at a location in a different time
zone, you may use the business hours of the
establishment at which the records are located when
calculating the deadline.

(3) Do I have to respond to an OSHA survey
form if I am normally exempt from keeping OSHA
injury and illness records?
Yes, even if you are exempt from keeping injury
and illness records under §1904.1 to §1904.3,
OSHA may inform you in writing that it will be
collecting injury and illness information from you in the
following year. If you receive such a letter, you must
keep the injury and illness records required by
§1904.5 to §1904.15 and make a survey report for
the year covered by the survey.

§1904.41 Annual OSHA injury and illness survey of
ten or more employers.
(a) Basic requirement. If you receive OSHA's
annual survey form, you must fill it out and send it to
OSHA or OSHA's designee, as stated on the survey
form. You must report the following information for
the year described on the form:

(4) Do I have to answer the OSHA survey form
if I am located in a State-Plan State?
Yes, all employers who receive survey forms must
respond to the survey, even those in State-Plan
States.

(1) the number of workers you employed;

31

(5) Does this section affect OSHA’s authority to
inspect my workplace?
No, nothing in this section affects OSHA’s
statutory authority to investigate conditions related to
occupational safety and health.
§1904.42 Requests from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for data.
(a) Basic requirement. If you receive a Survey
of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Form from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), or a BLS designee,
you must promptly complete the form and return it
following the instructions contained on the survey
form.
(b) Implementation.
(1) Does every employer have to send data to
the BLS?
No, each year, the BLS sends injury and illness
survey forms to randomly selected employers and
uses the information to create the Nation’s
occupational injury and illness statistics. In any year,
some employers will receive a BLS survey form and
others will not. You do not have to send injury and
illness data to the BLS unless you receive a survey
form.
(2) If I get a survey form from the BLS, what do
I have to do?
If you receive a Survey of Occupational Injuries
and Illnesses Form from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), or a BLS designee, you must
promptly complete the form and return it, following
the instructions contained on the survey form.
(3) Do I have to respond to a BLS survey form if
I am normally exempt from keeping OSHA injury and
illness records?
Yes, even if you are exempt from keeping injury
32

and illness records under §1904.1 to §1904.3, the
BLS may inform you in writing that it will be collecting
injury and illness information from you in the coming
year. If you receive such a letter, you must keep the
injury and illness records required by §1904.5 to
§1904.15 and make a survey report for the year
covered by the survey.

(2) When am I required to summarize and post
the 2001 information?
(i) You must complete the summary by February
1, 2002; and
(ii) You must post a copy of the summary in each
establishment in a conspicuous place or places where
notices to employees are customarily posted. You
must ensure that the summary is not altered, defaced
or covered by other material.

(4) Do I have to answer the BLS survey form if I
am located in a State-Plan State?
Yes, all employers who receive a survey form
must respond to the survey, even those in State-Plan
States.

(3) You must post the 2001 summary from
February 1, 2002 to March 1, 2002.

Subpart F — Transition From the Former Rule
§1904.44 Retention and updating of old forms.
§1904.43 Summary and posting of the 2001 data.
You must save your copies of the OSHA 200
and 101 forms for five years following the year to
which they relate and continue to provide access to
the data as though these forms were the OSHA 300
and 301 forms. You are not required to update your
old 200 and 101 forms.

(a) Basic requirement. If you were required to
keep OSHA 200 Logs in 2001, you must post a
2001 annual summary from the OSHA 200 Log of
occupational injuries and illnesses for each
establishment.
(b) Implementation.

§1904.45 OMB control numbers under the
Paperwork Reduction Act

(1) What do I have to include in the summary?
The following sections each contain a collection of
information requirement which has been approved by
the Office of Management and Budget under the
control number listed

(i) You must include a copy of the totals from the
2001 OSHA 200 Log and the following information
from that form:
(A) The calendar year covered;

29 CFR citation

OMB Control No.

(B) Your company name;

1904.4 - 35

1218-0176

(C) The name and address of the establishment;

1904.39 - 41

1218-0176

1904.42

1220-0045

1904.43 - 44

1218-0176

and
(D) The certification signature, title and date.
(ii) If no injuries or illnesses occurred at your
establishment in 2001, you must enter zeros on the
totals line and post the 2001 summary.

Subpart G — Definitions
§1904.46 Definitions
33

The Act. The Act means the Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).
The definitions contained in section 3 of the Act (29
U.S.C. 652) and related interpretations apply to such
terms when used in this Part 1904.

separate establishment.
(2) Can an establishment include more than one
physical location?
Yes, but only under certain conditions. An
employer may combine two or more physical
locations into a single establishment only when:

Establishment. An establishment is a single
physical location where business is conducted or
where services or industrial operations are performed.
For activities where employees do not work at a
single physical location, such as construction;
transportation; communications, electric, gas and
sanitary services; and similar operations, the
establishment is represented by main or branch
offices, terminals, stations, etc. that either supervise
such activities or are the base from which personnel
carry out these activities.

(i) The employer operates the locations as a
single business operation under common management;
(ii) The locations are all located in close proximity
to each other; and
(iii) The employer keeps one set of business
records for the locations, such as records on the
number of employees, their wages and salaries, sales
or receipts, and other kinds of business information.
For example, one manufacturing establishment might
include the main plant, a warehouse a few blocks
away, and an administrative services building across
the street.

(1) Can one business location include two or
more establishments?
Normally, one business location has only one
establishment. Under limited conditions, the employer
may consider two or more separate businesses that
share a single location to be separate establishments.
An employer may divide one location into two or
more establishments only when:

(3) If an employee telecommutes from home, is
his or her home considered a separate establishment?
No, for employees who telecommute from home,
the employee’s home is not a business establishment
and a separate 300 Log is not required. Employees
who telecommute must be linked to one of your
establishments under §1904.30(b)(3).

(i) Each of the establishments represents a
distinctly separate business;
(ii) Each business is engaged in a different
economic activity;
(iii) No one industry description in the Standard
Industrial Classification Manual (1987) applies to the
joint activities of the establishments; and
(iv) Separate reports are routinely prepared for
each establishment on the number of employees, their
wages and salaries, sales or receipts, and other
business information.
For example, if an employer operates a construction
company at the same location as a lumber yard, the
employer may consider each business to be a
34

Injury or illness. An injury or illness is an
abnormal condition or disorder. Injuries include cases
such as, but not limited to, a cut, fracture, sprain, or
amputation. Illnesses include both acute and chronic
illnesses, such as, but not limited to, a skin disease,
respiratory disorder, or poisoning. (Note: Injuries
and illnesses are recordable only if they are new,
work-related cases that meet one or more of the Part
1904 recording criteria.)
Physician or Other Licensed Health Care
Professional. A physician or other licensed health
care professional is an individual whose legally
permitted scope of practice (i.e., license, registration,
or certification) allows him or her to independently
perform, or be delegated the responsibility to
perform, the activities described by this regulation.
You. “You” means an employer as defined in
Section 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652).

35

(c) A State must recognize any variance issued
by Federal OSHA.

PART 1952 — [AMENDED]
§1952.4 Injury and illness recording and reporting
requirements.

(d) A State may, but is not required, to
participate in the Annual OSHA Injury/Illness Survey
as authorized by 29 CFR 1904.41. A participating
State may either adopt requirements identical to
1904.41 in its recording and reporting regulation as an
enforceable State requirement, or may defer to the
Federal regulation for enforcement. Nothing in any
State plan shall affect the duties of employers to
comply with 1904.41, when surveyed, as provided by
Section 18(c)(7) of the Act.

(a) Injury and illness recording and reporting
requirements promulgated by State-Plan States must
be substantially identical to those in 29 CFR Part
1904 “Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries
and Illnesses.” State-Plan States must promulgate
recording and reporting requirements that are the
same as the Federal requirements for determining
which injuries and illnesses will be entered into the
records and how they are entered. All other injury
and illness recording and reporting requirements that
are promulgated by State-Plan States may be more
stringent than, or supplemental to, the Federal
requirements, but, because of the unique nature of the
national recordkeeping program, States must consult
with OSHA and obtain approval of such additional or
more stringent reporting and recording requirements
to ensure that they will not interfere with uniform
reporting objectives. State-Plan States must extend
the scope of their regulation to State and local
government employers.
(b) A State may not grant a variance to the
injury and illness recording and reporting requirements
for private sector employers. Such variances may
only be granted by Federal OSHA to assure
nationally consistent workplace injury and illness
statistics. A State may only grant a variance to the
injury and illness recording and reporting requirements
for State or local government entities in that State
after obtaining approval from Federal OSHA.

36