This material is for training purposes only to inform the reader of occupational safety and health best practices and general compliance requirements and is not a substitute for provisions of the OSH Act of 1970 or any governmental regulatory agency.
MODULE 3: GENERAL RECORDING CRITERIA
In this module, we'll take a closer look at the third criteria, general and specific recording criteria.
(8) General Recording Criteria.
An injury or illness meets the general recording criteria, and is recordable, if it results in any one of the following six conditions:
- death
- days away from work
- restricted work or job transfer
- medical treatment beyond first aid
- loss of consciousness
- A significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional
You must record an injury or illness that results in death by entering a check mark in column (G) of the OSHA 300 Log for cases resulting in death. You must also report any work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours.
Days Away From Work
When an injury or illness involves one or more days away from work, you must record the injury or illness in Column (H) on the OSHA 300 Log for cases involving days away from work and an enter the number of calendar days away from work in Column (K).
- If the employee is out for an extended period of time, you must enter an estimate of the days that the employee will be away and update the day count when the actual number of days is known.
- Begin counting days away on the day after the injury occurred or the illness began.
- End the count of days away from work on the date the physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that the employee return to work. This applies regardless of whether the employee returns earlier or later than recommended. If there is no recommendation from the physician or licensed health care professional, enter the actual number of days the employee is off work.
- You must count the number of calendar days the employee was unable to work as a result of the injury or illness, regardless of whether or not the employee was scheduled to work on those day(s). Include weekend days, holidays, vacation days or other days off in the total number of days recorded if the employee would not have been able to work on those days because of a work-related injury or illness.
- You may stop tracking the number of calendar days away from work once the total reaches 180 days away from work and/or days of job transfer or restriction. Entering 180 in the total days away column is adequate.
- If the employee leaves your company for a reason unrelated to the injury or illness such as; retirement, a plant closing, or to take another job you may stop counting days away from work or days of restriction/job transfer. If the employee leaves your company because of the injury or illness, you must estimate the total number of days away or days of restriction/job transfer and enter the day count on the 300 Log.
- You must enter the number of calendar days away for the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log that you prepare for the year in which the incident occurred. If the time off extends into a new year, estimate the number of days for that year and add that amount to the days from the year of occurrence. Do not split the days between years and enter amounts on the logs for two different years. Use this number to calculate the total for the annual summary and then update the initial log entry later when the day count is known or reaches the 180-day cap.
When an injury or illness involves restricted work or job transfer but does not involve death or days away from work, you must record the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log by placing a check mark in the space for job transfer or restriction and an entry of the number of restricted or transferred days in the restricted workdays column.
Restricted work occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness:
- you keep the employee from performing one or more of the routine functions of their job, or from working the full day that they would otherwise work; or
- a physician or other licensed health care professional (HCP) recommends that the employee not perform one or more of the routine functions of their job, or not work the full workday that they would otherwise work.
A recommended work restriction is recordable only if it affects one or more of the employee's routine job functions. To determine whether this is the case, you must evaluate the restriction in light of the routine functions of the injured or ill employee's job.
A partial day of work is recorded as a day of job transfer or restriction for recordkeeping purposes, except for the day on which the injury occurred or the illness began.
Record job transfer and restricted work cases in the same column (I).
Count days of job transfer or restriction in the same way you count days away from work. The only difference is that, if you permanently assign the injured or ill employee to a job modified or permanently changed to eliminate the routine functions the employee was restricted from performing, you may stop the day count when the modification or change is permanent. You must count at least 1-day of restricted work or job transfer for such cases.
Medical Treatment Beyond First Aid
“Medical treatment” is the management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder. For OSHA 300 recordkeeping purposes, medical treatment does not include:
- visits to a physician or other licensed health care professional solely for observation or counseling;
- the conduct of diagnostic procedures, such as x-rays and blood tests, including the administration of prescription medications solely for diagnostic purposes (e.g., eye drops to dilate pupils); or
- “First aid”
You must record a work-related injury or illness if the worker becomes unconscious, regardless of the length of time they remain unconscious.
Other significant injuries or illnesses
In addition, you must record a case if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional (HCP), even if it does not result in any of the other five conditions described above.
OSHA believes that most significant injuries and illnesses will result in one of the six events listed above. However, there are some significant injuries, such as a punctured eardrum or a fractured toe or rib, for which neither medical treatment nor work restrictions may be recommended.
In addition, there are some significant progressive diseases, such as byssinosis, silicosis, and some types of cancer, for which medical treatment or work restrictions may not be recommended at the time of diagnosis but are likely to be recommended as the disease progresses.
Cancer, chronic irreversible diseases, fractured or cracked bones, and punctured eardrums are generally considered significant injuries and illnesses, and must be recorded at the initial diagnosis even if medical treatment or work restrictions are not recommended, or are postponed, in a particular case.
Work-related cases involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum must always be recorded under the general criteria at the time of occurrence.
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