What You Need to Know: OSHA’s Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Rules
For OHS Professionals, maintaining compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Part 1904 (Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses) requires an understanding of when to record an incident on the OSHA Form 300 log and when to report an incident to OSHA. The purpose of this regulation is to require employers to record and report work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses.
What must be recorded on the OSHA 300 log?
Any work-related (1) injury or illness (2) that is a new case (3) and meets the severity criteria (4) must be recorded on the OSHA Forms within 7 calendar days of learning about the injury or illness. It must meet the four conditions (in parentheses above) to be recordable: work-related, an injury or illness, a new case, and meet the severity criteria.
What is the Severity Criteria?
Must include at least one of the following: death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work activity, job transfer, a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care provider, or medical treatment beyond first aid.
What is the 300A log?
The OSHA 300A log is the Summary of Recordable Injuries and Illnesses that must be posted annually. Here are the steps to take:
Review your OSHA 300 Log to validate that the entries are complete and correct.
Complete your summary of injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300A Summary Log.
Certify the OSHA 300A Summary Log with a signature from a company executive.
Post the summary from February 1st to April 30th in a visible location.
What injuries and illnesses must be reported to OSHA?
Fatalities must be reported within 8 hours, and Inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye must be reported within 24 hours.
You can report these incidents by calling 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), calling your nearest area office during business hours, or using the online form.
Electronically Submitting your Injury and Illness Data
You may be required to electronically submit your establishments’ injury and illness data from the OSHA 300A, OSHA 300, and OSHA Form 301. If required, you will submit on OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA) by March 2nd.
YOU MUST submit OSHA Form 300A data if your establishment meets one of the following criteria:
1. 250 or more employees and is not in an industry listed in the Exempt Industries list in Appendix A to Subpart B of OSHA's recordkeeping regulation of 29 CFR Part 1904 or
2. 20-249 employees and is in an industry listed in Appendix A to Subpart E of 29 CFR Part 1904.
YOU MUST also submit OSHA Form 300/301 data if your establishment(s) has 100 or more employees and is in an industry listed in Appendix B to Subpart E of 29 CFR Part 1904.
You can also use the ITA Coverage Application to help determine if your establishment is required to submit this data.
Want to learn more about OSHA 29 CFR Part 1904?
Sign up to attend Triangle Safety Consulting LLC’s OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Training (Virtual) on January 13th, 2026, from 9 AM to 3 PM EST. This five-and-a-half-hour (5.5) virtual training class will cover Part 1904 Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses IN DEPTH. Learners will get hands-on experience with examples of injuries and illnesses and how to classify them as first-aid, recordable, reportable, or both. You will get to practice completing an OSHA Form 300 Log and OSHA Form 300A Summary with examples of injuries and illnesses. You will also learn how to calculate Total Recordable Rates (TRR) and Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred Rates (DART). You will receive an OSHA Injury and Illness Quick Guide PDF as part of the coursework for this class.
Sign up here: https://trianglesafetyllc.com/safetyresources/p/osha-injury-and-illness-recordkeeping
Need assistance electronically submitting your OSHA 300A or 300 Form? We can help.
This blog was written by Brandy Zadoorian, CSP, and Triangle Safety Consulting LLC's Owner and Principal Consultant.
She offers audits, expertise, resources, and guidance to help manufacturing facilities improve compliance with OSHA Requirements, minimize injuries and illnesses, and reduce risk!
She is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) under the Board of Certified Safety Professionals.
