Counting Restricted Work Days on OSHA Logs

Count restricted days the same way as days away: calendar days starting the day after the injury, until the restriction ends, capped at 180. A partial shift counts as a restricted day, except on the day of injury.

Restricted day counts are not the same as light-duty pay codes.

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 the restriction's start and end dates.
2. Compare it with the routine functions.
3. Count calendar days.
4. Update the total as restrictions change.

Tip: Count calendar days of restriction or transfer based on OSHA rules.

Teams count the number of restricted tasks instead of restricted 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.

• Restrictions that change mid-case require updates.
• A restriction that applies only to the day of injury does not make the case recordable as restricted work.

An employee is restricted from overhead work from May 4 (the day after the injury) through May 22, then cleared for everything except ladders through June 5, and ladder work is a weekly task. Both periods are restricted: 19 days plus 14 days, for 33 days in column L.

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.

• Do You Count the Day of Injury on the OSHA 300 Log?
• Job Transfer Day Counts on the OSHA 300 Log
• Counting OSHA Days When an Employee Leaves the Company
• Where to Post the OSHA 300A Summary