OSHA recordkeeping deadlines

The recordkeeping year, start to finish

OSHA injury records run on the calendar year, and a new 300 log starts every January 1. At the end of each year you review the log for completeness, total the columns (zeros if there were no cases), and have a company executive certify the 300A summary (29 CFR 1904.32(b)(3)). The certifier must be an owner of a sole proprietorship or partnership, a corporate officer, the highest-ranking company official at the establishment, or that person’s immediate supervisor.

By February 1 the certified 300A goes up where employee notices are usually posted, and it stays up through April 30 (29 CFR 1904.32(b)(6)). Covered establishments also submit to OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application by March 2 (29 CFR 1904.41(c)). The ITA coverage checker tells you whether that includes you.

Clocks that start on an event

Most deadlines aren’t on the calendar at all. They start when something happens:

• A recordable case goes on the 300 and 301 within 7 calendar days of learning about it (29 CFR 1904.29(b)(3)).
• A work-related fatality is reported to OSHA within 8 hours; an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours (29 CFR 1904.39).
• An employee or former employee who asks for the 300 log, or for their own 301, gets a copy by the end of the next business day (29 CFR 1904.35(b)(2)).
• An authorized government representative gets the records within 4 business hours (29 CFR 1904.40(a)).
• Records are kept for 5 years after the end of the year they cover, and updated during that time (29 CFR 1904.33).

A worked example

A supervisor learns on Friday, October 2, 2026 that an employee needed sutures after a work injury. The case is recordable, so it must be on the 300 and 301 by Friday, October 9; weekends count. At year end it is totaled into the 2026 300A, which is posted from February 1 to April 30, 2027, submitted to the ITA by Tuesday, March 2, 2027 if the establishment is covered, and kept through the end of 2031.

Common mistakes

• Assuming March 2 rolls to Monday. No rule moves it. March 2, 2030 is a Saturday, so plan to submit by Friday, March 1.
• Taking the 300A down early. It stays posted through April 30, even after the ITA submission.
• Skipping a zero-case year. The 300A is still certified and posted, with zeros.
• Letting old logs go stale. During the five-year retention period, add newly discovered cases and record changes in classification (29 CFR 1904.33(b)).