OSHA 300 Log Requirements for 2026: A Practical Recordkeeping Guide

Employers that keep OSHA records must enter each new, work-related case that meets a recording criterion on the 300 Log within 7 calendar days. Each entry needs a case number, the employee's name (or “privacy case”), job title, date, location, a short description, the outcome column, day counts, and the injury or illness type.

Teams need a reliable process before January rather than a scramble after cases pile up.

OSHA recordkeeping uses three forms (29 CFR 1904.29). The OSHA 300 Log lists every recordable case with a one- or two-line description. The OSHA 301 Incident Report, or an equivalent form such as an insurance first report of injury that carries the same information, holds the detail for each case. The OSHA 300A Summary totals the log at year end. Each recordable case must be on the 300 and the 301 within 7 calendar days of receiving information that it occurred. The 300A is the only form you post, from February 1 to April 30, and a company executive certifies it first (29 CFR 1904.32).

Decide work-relatedness first, then recordability, then classification, in that order. When the three forms live in separate files, the log, the incident reports, and the summary drift apart, and the certified numbers stop matching the case files. The fix is to treat the forms as one record with three views: a case number ties each 300 row to its 301, and the 300A is only ever totaled from the reviewed log.

Coordinators tend to do the data entry and chase the facts, so a short list of what to ask for, and from whom, saves more time than any template.

Many employers jump straight to severity and skip the work-relatedness check.

Every 300 entry feeds the 300A totals, the TRIR and DART rates built from them, and, for establishments that must submit case data, a row in the ITA file. A description written carelessly in March is the one an employee reads when they ask for the log in October.

• An injury can be work-related but still not recordable if it does not meet a recording criterion.
• Case descriptions are read by employees and former employees, who can request the log, so write them as if they will be shared, because they will be.

A machine operator gets a chemical splash on the forearm. The site confirms it happened while running the line (work-related) and that the clinic prescribed a steroid cream (medical treatment beyond first aid). Case 2026-021 goes on the log with the operator's name, job title “machine operator”, the date, “Line 3”, the description “Chemical burn, right forearm, caustic splash”, column J checked, and the injury box ticked. When the operator later loses two days of work, the entry moves to column H with 2 in column K.

1. Take in the event and the facts behind it.
2. Gather the medical outcome and the work status.
3. Classify the case and enter it within 7 calendar days.
4. Update the entry when the outcome changes.

What to keep in the case file:

• The 300 Log with stable case numbers
• A 301 or equivalent for every case on the log
• The confidential privacy case list, if you have privacy cases
• The certified 300A and the worksheet behind its totals

300log builds the 300 row, the 301 detail, and the 300A totals from a single incident record, so the three forms cannot drift apart, and it exports each one as a PDF when you need to post, print, or hand over a copy.

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

• How to Complete OSHA Form 301 Without Creating Rework
• OSHA 300 Injury Description Examples That Are Clear Without Oversharing
• OSHA Form 301 Seven-Day Rule: When the Incident Report Must Be Complete
• Musculoskeletal Disorder Recordability on OSHA Logs