Restricted Work vs Job Transfer on OSHA Logs

Restricted work limits routine functions or the full shift in the employee's own job, while job transfer moves them to a different job, even for part of a day. OSHA treats both the same on the log: they share column I, and the days go in column L.

The practical question is whether the employee can perform routine job functions on the next scheduled workday.

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).

Use medical restrictions and actual job duties to decide whether the case belongs in restricted work or transfer. 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.

As the safety manager you usually own the decision itself, so the most useful habit is writing down the fact each call rests on at the time you make it.

Teams sometimes rely on a light-duty label without comparing it to routine functions.

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.

• Short restrictions that change later still need updates in the log.
• Diagnostic work alone is not medical treatment. X-rays, blood tests, and observation visits do not make a case recordable by themselves.

A packer with a strained wrist keeps packing but cannot operate the stretch wrapper, a task done several times a week: restricted work. A second packer with the same injury is moved to the returns desk for the afternoon of each shift: job transfer. Both cases are checked in column I, and both day counts go in column L.

1. Get the restriction in writing.
2. Compare it with the employee's routine functions.
3. Decide restriction or transfer, and check column I.
4. Count calendar days from the day after the injury.
5. Update the count as the restrictions change.

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.

• Medical Treatment Beyond First Aid: OSHA Recordability Examples
• Is Loss of Consciousness Always OSHA Recordable?
• Significant Injury or Illness on OSHA Logs: What Gets Recorded Even Without Lost Time
• Authorized Employee Representative Access to OSHA Injury Records