Occupational Tuberculosis on the OSHA 300 Log

Record TB when an employee exposed at work to a known active case later has a positive skin test or diagnosis, and check the respiratory condition column. It is a privacy concern case, and you may line it out later if evidence shows the infection came from outside work.

TB cases require a link between exposure and later medical evidence.

A case goes on the OSHA 300 Log when three things are true: it is work-related (29 CFR 1904.5), it is a new case (29 CFR 1904.6), and it meets at least one general recording criterion (29 CFR 1904.7). The criteria are death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional (cancer, a chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum). Special rules add needlesticks, medical removal, hearing loss, and tuberculosis (29 CFR 1904.8 to 1904.11).

Under 29 CFR 1904.11 you may line out or erase a recorded TB case if:

• The employee lives in a household with a person diagnosed with active TB
• The public health department has identified the employee as a contact of an active TB case unrelated to the workplace
• A medical investigation shows the infection came from exposure away from work, or was not related to the workplace exposure

A positive skin test at a pre-employment physical is not recorded, because the employee was not exposed at your workplace.

Record occupational TB infection when OSHA criteria are met after workplace exposure. Recordability answers change as medical facts arrive, so a case decided on day one without notes is hard to defend in January. The fix is to decide in order (work-relatedness, new case, criteria) and to write down the treatment and work-status facts each decision rests on, including medication strength.

In healthcare, clinical follow-up and recordkeeping run in parallel, so build the link between employee health and the OSHA log into intake itself.

Teams either record exposure alone or wait too long after a positive test.

Each recordable case adds to the 300A totals and the TRIR; days-away and restricted cases also count toward DART. For establishments with 100 or more employees in Appendix B industries, each case also becomes a row in the ITA case data.

• Alternative non-work exposure can affect the analysis.
• OSHA's first aid list is complete. A treatment that is not on it is medical treatment for recordkeeping, no matter who provides it.

A respiratory therapist cares for a patient later confirmed to have active TB. At follow-up testing eight weeks later, the therapist's skin test converts to positive. The case is recorded as a privacy case in the respiratory condition column. If the health department later links the infection to a household contact, the entry can be lined out.

1. Document the workplace exposure to a known active case.
2. Track follow-up skin tests or diagnoses.
3. Record positive cases as privacy cases in the respiratory condition column.
4. Line out the case if evidence shows a non-work source.

What to keep in the case file:

• What the provider recommended, in writing if possible, including medication strength
• Work status notes (full duty, restrictions, or days away) with dates
• The work-relatedness basis and any exception considered
• The date you learned of the case and the date it became recordable

300log records each case's outcome, day counts, and case type in the columns the OSHA 300 Log uses, shows OSHA's definitions (such as restricted work) while you classify, and recalculates the 300A whenever a case changes.

For a quick answer without an account, use the free recordability checker.

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