Counting Days Away From Work on the OSHA 300 Log
Count calendar days away starting the day after the injury, including weekends and holidays the employee could not have worked, and stop at 180 if you choose.
What you are aiming for
Count calendar days away starting the day after the injury, including weekends and holidays the employee could not have worked, and stop at 180 if you choose. For cases still open at year end, enter an estimate and update it later.
Day counts are easy to corrupt when payroll and OSHA rules are mixed.
What you need before you start
Gather these first, and keep them with the record afterward:
- Provider notes with restriction dates and what was restricted
- The employee's routine functions, from a job analysis or supervisor
- Day-by-day status: away, restricted, transferred, or full duty
- Estimates for cases still open at year end and when they were updated
The rule behind the steps
DART cases are the ones checked in column H (days away from work) or column I (job transfer or restriction) of the 300 Log. Each case is checked once, in the most serious column that applies (death, then days away, then restriction or transfer, then other), but both day counts are entered: days away in column K and restricted or transferred days in column L. Count calendar days, starting the day after the injury or illness began (29 CFR 1904.7(b)(3)). Restricted work means the employee cannot perform one or more routine functions (activities done at least once a week) or cannot work the full workday, whether you impose it or a provider recommends it (1904.7(b)(4)). You may stop counting at 180 days.
OSHA day-counting rules
From 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(3) and (b)(4):
- Start counting the day after the injury or illness began.
- Count calendar days, including weekends, holidays, and other days off the employee could not have worked because of the injury.
- If a provider recommends days away and the employee works anyway, record the recommended days.
- If a provider clears the employee to return and they stay home, stop counting on the date of the clearance.
- An injury on a Friday before a weekend off is a days-away case only if a provider says the employee should not have worked those days.
- A partial shift counts as a restricted day, except on the day of injury.
- You may stop counting at 180 days; entering 180 is enough.
- If the employee leaves for reasons unrelated to the injury, you may stop counting; if they leave because of it, estimate the total.
- A case that runs into the next year stays on the log of the year it occurred, with an estimate updated later.
Step by step
- Mark the first day away (the day after the injury).
- Count calendar days.
- Track the return date.
- Cap at 180 days and update estimates.
Tip: Count calendar days away and apply OSHA day-counting rules consistently.
Where this usually goes wrong
Teams count only scheduled workdays or paid absence days.
DART is where cases and days get confused: the rate counts cases, while the log also carries day totals that leadership often reads as the same thing. The fix is to track each case's status day by day (away, restricted, transferred, or full duty) and derive both the column and the day counts from that record.
Analysts are measured on numbers leadership trusts, so document every input and assumption behind a rate or a total.
Special situations
- Long cases can hit the OSHA day count cap.
- A restriction that applies only to the day of injury does not make the case recordable as restricted work.
Worked example
An employee is hurt on December 18 and is still off when the 300A is prepared in January. The doctor expects a return around February 15. The log shows an estimate of 59 days (December 19 through February 15), and it is updated to the actual count when the employee returns.
How it affects the rest of your records
Column H and I cases drive the DART rate and the 300A totals; the day counts in K and L go on the 300A too, and into the ITA file for covered establishments.
Where 300log helps
300log keeps days away and restricted days on each case, carries them into the 300A totals, and lets you update the counts as a case develops, so the posted summary and the DART rate come from the same entries.
For a quick answer without an account, use the free rate calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is light duty always restricted work?
Only if the employee cannot perform one or more routine functions or cannot work a full shift. A light-duty label does not decide it by itself.
Do you count the day of the injury?
No. Start counting days away or restricted days on the day after the injury or illness began.
Are days counted as workdays or calendar days?
Calendar days, including weekends and holidays the employee could not have worked because of the injury.
What is the maximum number of days to record?
You may cap days away, restricted work, or job transfer at 180 calendar days.
Sources
Primary regulation and agency guidance this article relies on.
- [1]29 CFR 1904.7: General recording criteriaOccupational Safety and Health Administration · osha.gov(opens in a new tab)
- [2]29 CFR 1904.32: Annual summary certification and postingOccupational Safety and Health Administration · osha.gov(opens in a new tab)
- [3]29 CFR 1904.33: Retention and updatingOccupational Safety and Health Administration · osha.gov(opens in a new tab)
Written and reviewed by the 300log Editorial Team. Guidance, not legal advice: confirm edge cases with OSHA or counsel.