OSHA Recordkeeping: Understanding Forms 300, 300A, and 301

Every medical practice with more than ten employees is required to maintain records of serious work-related injuries and illnesses under OSHA's recordkeeping standard (29 CFR 1904). Even practices with ten or fewer employees may be required to report specific incidents. Understanding the three core OSHA recordkeeping forms — the 300 Log, the 300A Annual Summary, and the 301 Incident Report — is essential for staying compliant and avoiding citations. This guide explains each form, when recording is required, and the common mistakes practices make.

Which Injuries and Illnesses Must Be Recorded

Not every workplace injury requires recording. Under OSHA's standard, you must record a work-related injury or illness if it results in death, days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or licensed healthcare professional. In medical practices, common recordable incidents include needlestick injuries with subsequent treatment, back injuries from patient lifting that require time off, slips and falls resulting in restricted duty, and exposure incidents involving bloodborne pathogens that require post-exposure prophylaxis. First aid cases — such as applying a bandage or administering a single dose of over-the-counter medication — are not recordable.

OSHA Form 300: Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

The OSHA 300 Log is a running record of all recordable injuries and illnesses that occur during the calendar year. For each incident, you must record the employee's name, job title, and the date and location of the event. You must also classify the case: did it result in death, days away from work, job restriction, or only other recordable cases? Record the number of days away or restricted, the type of injury or illness, and which body part was affected. The 300 Log must be maintained at each establishment and kept current — OSHA requires that entries be made within seven calendar days of learning about a recordable incident. Logs must be retained for five years following the year they cover.

OSHA Form 300A: Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

At the end of each calendar year, you must compile the 300A Annual Summary from your 300 Log data. The 300A totals the number of cases, days away from work, and days of restriction across all incidents for the year. It also includes your establishment's average number of employees and total hours worked, which are used to calculate incidence rates. A company executive must certify the 300A by signing it. The certified 300A must be posted in a visible location in the workplace from February 1 through April 30 of the following year. This posting requirement applies even if you had zero recordable incidents — you must still post a zeroed-out 300A. Practices with 20 or more employees in certain high-risk industries may also be required to electronically submit their 300A data to OSHA annually.

OSHA Form 301: Injury and Illness Incident Report

The 301 form captures detailed information about each individual recordable incident. It includes the employee's personal information, the treating physician or facility, a detailed description of how the injury occurred, what the employee was doing at the time, what object or substance directly harmed the employee, and the nature of the injury. The 301 must be completed within seven calendar days of learning about the incident. An equivalent form — such as a state workers' compensation first report of injury — may be used in place of the 301 as long as it captures all the same data elements. Like the 300 Log, the 301 forms must be retained for five years.

Common Recordkeeping Mistakes in Medical Practices

Healthcare settings present unique recordkeeping challenges. The most frequent mistakes include failing to record needlestick injuries (especially when the source patient is low-risk — the recording requirement is based on the incident, not the outcome), misclassifying a recordable case as first aid, not updating the log when an injury that initially seemed minor later results in restricted work or days away, failing to post the 300A during the required February through April period, and not retaining logs for the full five-year period. Another common error is recording cases on the wrong establishment's log when a practice has multiple locations — each location with more than ten employees must maintain its own records.

Electronic Submission Requirements

Under OSHA's electronic recordkeeping rule, establishments with 20 to 249 employees in designated high-risk industries (NAICS code 621 covers offices of physicians, which is included) must electronically submit their 300A data annually through OSHA's Injury Tracking Application (ITA). Establishments with 250 or more employees must submit 300, 300A, and 301 data. Submission deadlines are typically March 2 of the following year. Failure to submit electronically when required is a separate citable violation.

How GuardWell Compliance Helps

GuardWell automates OSHA recordkeeping for medical practices. When you log a workplace incident in the platform, GuardWell determines whether it is recordable, populates the 300 Log and 301 form automatically, and generates a print-ready 300A Annual Summary at year-end. The platform tracks posting deadlines, retention periods, and electronic submission requirements so nothing falls through the cracks. Every incident is stored with the detail fields OSHA requires, giving your practice an audit-ready recordkeeping system without the burden of maintaining paper logs.