OSHA Form 300: Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

Are You Required to Post Your Log?

No. You must maintain and keep the Log, but you do not have to post it.

You will learn in a later article, however, that you must post Form 300A, the Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.

How Long Must You Keep Form 300 on File?

You must keep it on file for at least five years after the year for which it was prepared.

Do You Have to Send Form 300 to OSHA?

No, but DO read up on OSHA's relatively new electronic submission requirements (which our new Incident Management System can help you with).

Do Employees Have the Right to See and Read Your Form 300?

Yes, employees and their representatives have the right to request, access, and view your Form 300. For more details about this, see 29 CFR 1904.35, Employee Involvement.

For even more detailed information, you may want to read these OSHA Standard Interpretations of 1904.35(b)(2).

Do You Have to Record the Name of the Employee Who Suffered the Injury or Illness on Form 300 in All Cases?

When the injury or illness involves a privacy concern, you should not record the name of the employee who suffered the injury or illness. In these instances, you would write “privacy case” in the space normally used for the employee’s name. You would then have to create a separate, confidential list of the case number and employee names for all privacy cases at your site.

Read the explanation below about completing Form 300, Column B, Employee’s Name for more information about privacy cases.

How Do You Fill Out the Spaces in Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses?

Here's what the form looks like:

See the explanations below.

Column A, Case Number:

Create a new case number for each case that occurs during the year (1, 2, 3, etc.). This number is then copied into OSHA Form 301, Injury and Illness Incident Report, line 10 (you have probably already completed Form 301 other than this line).

Column B, Employee’s Name:

Enter the employee’s name.

If there is a privacy concern involved, you should not list the employee’s name but should instead write “Privacy Case” in this space. You would then create a separate, confidential form that includes the real name of the employee and the case number.

According to OSHA, you must consider the following types of injuries or illnesses to be privacy concern cases:

• An injury or illness to an intimate body part or to the reproductive system
• An injury or illness resulting from a sexual assault
• A mental illness
• A case of HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis
• A needlestick injury or cut from a sharp object that is contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material (see 29 CFR 1904.8 for a definition)
• Other illnesses, if the employee independently and voluntarily requests that his or her name not be entered on the log

In addition, OSHA explains that “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 intimate or private nature.”

Column C, Job Title

Enter the worker’s job title.

Column D, Date of Injury or Onset of Illness

Enter the date on which the injury occurred or the date of the onset of illness.

Column E, Where the Event Occurred

Write down where the incident occurred. For example, the name of the room or area in your work site.

Column F, Describe Injury or Illness, Parts of Body Affected, and Object/Substance that Directly Injured or Made Person Ill

On their instructions for completing this form, OSHA notes “Be as specific as possible. You can use two lines if you need more room.”

Columns G-J, Classify the Case/Most Serious Outcome

Choose only one of these categories for each injury or illness. Always classify the case by recording the most serious outcome of the case. Column D (death) is considered the most serious and Column J (other recordable cases) is considered the least serious.

If you have completed this section and then the injury or illness progresses and the outcome becomes more serious than you originally noted, you can change your entry in this section to match the later, more serious outcome. You can cross out, erase, or white-out the original entry.

Columns K and L, Enter the Number of Days Injured or Ill Worker Was Away from Work/On Job Transfer or Restriction:

According to OSHA, “Restricted work activity occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness, an employer or health care professional keeps, or recommends keeping, an employee from doing the routine functions of his or her job or from working the full workday that the employee would have been scheduled to work before the injury or illness occurred.”

If an employee’s work IS restricted or if the employee is away from work, here are instructions OSHA provides for counting the number of days: “Count the number of calendar days the employee was on restricted work activity or was away from work as a result of the recordable injury or illness. Do not count the day on which the injury or illness occurred in this number. Begin counting days from the day after the incident occurs. If a single injury or illness involved both days away from work and days of restricted work activity, enter the total number of days for each. You may stop counting days of restricted work activity or days away from work once the total of either or the combination of both reaches 180 days.”

Column M, Check the Injury Column or Choose One Type of Illness

OSHA provides the following instructions for this section.

Injury: An injury is any wound or damage to the body resulting from an event in the work environment. Examples include cuts, punctures, lacerations, abrasions, fractures, bruises, contusions, chipped teeth, amputations, insect bites, electrocution, or a thermal, chemical, electrical, or radiation burn. Sprain and strain injuries to muscles, joints, and connective issues are classified as injuries when they result from a slip, trip, fall, or other similar accidents.

Illness—Skin diseases or disorders: Skin diseases or disorders are illnesses involving the worker’s skin that are caused by work exposure to chemicals, plants, or other substances. Examples include contact dermatitis, eczema, or rash caused by primary irritants or sensitizers or poisonous plants; oil acne; friction blisters; chrome ulcers; and inflammation of the skin.

Illness—Respiratory conditions: Respiratory conditions are illnesses associated with breathing hazardous biological agents, chemicals, dust, gases, vapors, or fumes at work. Examples include: silicosis, asbestosis, pneumonitis, pharyngitis, rhinitis or acute congestion; farmer’s lung, beryllium disease, tuberculosis, occupational asthma, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypersensitivity pneumonitis, toxic inhalation injury, such as metal fume fever, chronic obstructive bronchitis, and other pneumoconioses.

Illness—Poisoning: Poisoning includes disorders evidenced by abnormal concentrations of toxic substances in blood, other tissues, other bodily fluids, or the breath that are caused by the ingestion or absorption of toxic substances into the body. Examples include poisoning by lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, or other metals; poisoning by carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, or other gases; poisoning by benzene, benzol, carbon tetrachloride, or other organic solvents; poisoning by insecticide sprays, such as parathion or lead arsenate; and poisoning by other chemicals, such as formaldehyde.

Illness—Hearing loss: Noise-induced hearing loss is defined for recordkeeping purposes as a change in hearing threshold relative to the baseline audiogram of an average of 10 dB or more in either ear at 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz, and the employee’s total hearing level is 25 decibels (dB) or more above audiometric zero (also averaged at 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz) in the same ear(s).

Illness—All other illnesses: Check here for all other occupational illnesses, including: heatstroke, sunstroke, heat exhaustion, heat stress and other effects of environmental heat; freezing, frostbite, and other effects of exposure to low temperatures; decompression sickness; effects of ionizing radiation (isotopes, x-rays, radium); effects of nonionizing radiation (welding flash, ultra-violet rays, lasers); anthrax; bloodborne pathogenic diseases, such as AIDS, HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, brucellosis; malignant or benign tumors; histoplasmosis; and coccidiodomycosis.

Conclusion: OSHA's Form 300, the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

We hope this answered your questions about OSHA's Form 300.

Be sure to read the other related articles on the following topics:

• OSHA Recordables 
• OSHA Recordkeeping Forms 
• OSHA Form 300A 
• OSHA Form 301 
• Understanding OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping Requirements