Job Transfer Day Counts on the OSHA 300 Log

A case involves job transfer when the employee is assigned to a job other than their regular one, even for part of a day, because of the injury. Count transfer days like restricted days, and stop the count when a modified job is made permanent.

Job transfer cases often hide in temporary assignment emails.

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

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.

1. Record when the transfer starts and ends.
2. Note the routine functions affected.
3. Count calendar days.
4. Classify the case in column I.

Tip: Count transfer days when the case meets OSHA restricted work or transfer criteria.

Teams count a transfer only when pay or title changes.

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 see the data after it is entered, so reconciling the log against source documents is where you add the most value.

• Partial days and changing restrictions require case notes.
• Weekends, holidays, and scheduled days off count if the employee could not have worked them because of the injury.

A forklift operator with a shoulder injury spends the afternoons of each shift on the inventory team for three weeks. That is a job transfer, 21 calendar days in column L. If the company had permanently reassigned the operator to inventory in week two, the count could stop on that date, with at least one day recorded.

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.

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.

• Counting OSHA Days When an Employee Leaves the Company
• OSHA 180-Day Cap: How to Count Long Days Away and Restricted Cases
• OSHA Recordkeeping for Warehouses: DART, Days Away, and ITA Risks
• OSHA 300A Employee Access Statement: Why Equivalent Summaries Need the Required Notices