Three questions before anyone opens a log

At 4:15 p.m. on a Tuesday in early January, an operations manager at a regional distribution company gets a message from the facilities lead. The company has opened a nine-person satellite office, taken over a warehouse lease from another business, and brought in a crew of temporary workers through a staffing agency. The manager inherited injury reporting along with three other jobs. The message is short: do we need a separate OSHA log for each of these?

The answer depends on four things found in different parts of 29 CFR Part 1904:

  • the company's headcount over the last calendar year;
  • the industry classification of each establishment;
  • what the regulation means by an establishment;
  • who supervises the temporary workers day to day.

None of them is hard on its own. Together they are the coverage test, and a manager with the eCFR open can work through it in an afternoon. By the end of this article you will be able to run that test, name the section behind each step, and see which steps are your own decision.

Reference material with citations, not legal advice. You decide recordability and compensability, and you file.

Which OSHA recordkeeping requirements apply to your company

Part 1904 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations is where the OSHA recordkeeping requirements start, and coverage is the first thing it settles. Two separate tests can switch off the routine duty to keep injury and illness records. Neither switches off the duty to report the most serious events. The text below is the eCFR as current on October 15, 2026.

The size test

Under 29 CFR 1904.1 (eCFR, current October 15, 2026), "If your company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year, you do not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records" unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells you in writing that you must (1904.1(a)(1)). This is the OSHA recordkeeping exemption for 10 employees that small employers search for.

Three points about reading it:

  • The test is written about the company. Section 1904.1(b)(1) says the exemption "is based on the number of employees in the entire company." The nine-person satellite office in the opening scenario does not qualify on its own if the company behind it is larger.
  • The test looks backward. Section 1904.1(b)(2) asks for the company's "peak employment during the last calendar year," so a year of growth changes the following year's status.
  • The rule is not a simple formula. Section 1904.1 does not itself spell out how part-time, seasonal and temporary workers count toward the size test. Read the counting language in 1904.1, and if your numbers sit near the line, confirm with OSHA.

The industry test

Section 1904.2 adds a separate exemption for establishments "classified in a specific industry group listed in appendix A to this subpart" (1904.2(a)(1)). That list, Non-Mandatory Appendix A to Subpart B, is organized by industry code. Those are the OSHA partially exempt industries. We do not reprint the list here. Read the current table on the eCFR page for Subpart B. Section 1904.2(b)(1) says this exemption "applies to individual business establishments," so check each establishment's industry code against the list. Which code fits an establishment is your determination.

The two tests are independent. OSHA's own description of its establishment data refers to establishments with 250 or more employees "in non-exempt industries" (OSHA ITA data, checked 2026), which shows that size and industry are applied as separate screens.

What stays even when you are exempt

Partial means partial. Both 1904.1(a)(1) and 1904.2(a)(1) keep the 1904.39 reporting duty in place. A partially exempt employer must still report a work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours after the death. It must also report an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye to OSHA within 24 hours (29 CFR 1904.39(a); see also the Texas Department of Insurance summary, checked 2026).

The regulation sets the window for each event. Under 1904.39(b)(6), a fatality must be reported only if it occurs within 30 days of the work-related incident. A hospitalization, amputation or eye loss must be reported only if it occurs within 24 hours of the incident (OSHA memo, 2016).

Under 1904.39(a)(3), the employer can report by telephone or in person to the nearest OSHA Area Office, by calling 1-800-321-6742, or through the reporting application on OSHA's website (OSHA, checked 2026). You make the report. Nothing in this article or in any ClaimsIntake product reports to OSHA for you.

State Plans

There are 22 OSHA-approved State Plans covering both private-sector and state and local government workers, and seven covering public-sector workers only (OSHA, checked 2026). This article names three State Plan states as examples, not a complete list: California, Michigan and North Carolina. For the full list, use the OSHA page. If a site is in a State Plan state, read that agency's rules directly. The reporting windows are not identical, as the table shows.

Jurisdiction Trigger Unit Recipient Source
Federal OSHA Work-related fatality (reportable if it occurs within 30 days of the incident) 8 hours OSHA OSHA
Federal OSHA In-patient hospitalization, amputation or eye loss (within 24 hours of the incident) 24 hours OSHA OSHA
California Serious injury, illness or death; runs from when the employer knows or with diligent inquiry would have known Not longer than 8 hours Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA); see §342 for how to report Title 8 §342
Michigan In-patient hospitalization of one or more employees 24 hours MIOSHA MIOSHA ADM-15-6
North Carolina Work-related fatality 8 hours NCDOL OSH Division NCDOL
North Carolina In-patient hospitalization, amputation or eye loss 24 hours NCDOL OSH Division NCDOL

Confirm the exact trigger wording and reporting channel with each agency before you build a procedure around a row.

What counts as an establishment under Part 1904

Once you know the company is covered, the next question is what you keep a record for. The answer is the establishment, not the company. 29 CFR 1904.30(a) states it directly:

"You must keep a separate OSHA 300 Log for each establishment that is expected to be in operation for one year or longer."

Section 1904.46 supplies the OSHA establishment definition: "An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed." The same definition says that "normally, one business location has only one establishment," and sets out the limited conditions under which separate businesses sharing a location may be treated as separate establishments. Read those conditions in full before relying on them. For a shorter-lived site, such as a temporary project location, 1904.30(b)(1) says "You may keep one OSHA 300 Log that covers all of your short-term establishments." For employees who work at several locations or at none of your establishments, 1904.30(b)(3) requires you to link each one with one of your establishments for recordkeeping.

Whether a given site is one establishment or two is a determination you make from that text. In the opening scenario, the satellite office and the leased warehouse are each a candidate for its own log. The question is where each is located and how it operates. If your company has several locations, the same test repeats for every one. Our guide to keeping an OSHA 300 log across multiple locations walks through that case.

Temporary and contract workers

Headcount is not the only place the temporary crew matters. OSHA's 2018 interpretation says Part 1904 "requires employers to record the recordable injuries and illnesses of employees they supervise on a day-to-day basis" (OSHA, 2018). That includes temporary, leased and contract workers who are not on the employer's payroll.

The regulation says the same thing for workers from a temporary help service: "You must record these injuries and illnesses if you supervise these employees on a day-to-day basis" (29 CFR 1904.31(b)(2)). Under 1904.31(b)(4), the host and the agency should coordinate so that each case is recorded only once. Day-to-day supervision is the test, and whether it is met at your site is your determination. Beyond that test, confirm how host employers and staffing agencies divide the duties with OSHA.

What a covered establishment must do, and when

A covered establishment faces a short list of obligations under the OSHA recordkeeping requirements in Part 1904. Each has its own trigger, unit and recipient, and each is easy to blur into the others. The table separates them.

Duty Trigger Unit Recipient Source
Enter a recordable case on the 300 Log and the 301 Incident Report Receiving information that a recordable injury or illness has occurred 7 calendar days The establishment's own log and incident report 29 CFR 1904.29(b)(3)
Post the 300A annual summary The year the records cover has ended; post no later than February 1 of the following year, and keep it posted until April 30 Calendar dates Posted in each establishment "in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted" (1904.32(b)(5)) 29 CFR 1904.32(b)(5), (b)(6)
Retain the 300 Log, 300A and 301 End of the calendar year the records cover 5 years Kept by the employer 29 CFR 1904.33(a)
Give a copy of the 300 Log Request from an employee, former employee or employee representative By the end of the next business day; first copy free The requester 29 CFR 1904.35(b)(2)
Give copies of Part 1904 records Request from an authorized government representative 4 business hours The requester 29 CFR 1904.40(a)
Submit data electronically The establishment meets the 1904.41 size and industry criteria By March 2 of the year after the covered year OSHA's Injury Tracking Application (ITA) OSHA ITA user guide

Three clarifications.

The seven-day clock. It starts when you receive information that a recordable case has occurred. The rule says to record the case. Whether the case is recordable is your decision. The full mechanics of the log are covered in our OSHA 300 log guide.

Certification. A company executive certifies the 300A. Under 1904.32(b)(4), that must be one of four people:

  1. an owner (sole proprietorship or partnership only);
  2. an officer of the corporation;
  3. the highest-ranking company official working at the establishment;
  4. that official's immediate supervisor.

Deciding who fits one of those categories at your company is yours to do. The summary itself is covered in the OSHA 300A annual summary guide.

Electronic submission. Under 1904.41, establishments with 20 to 249 employees in designated higher-hazard industries (Subpart E, Appendix A) must submit 300A data electronically. Establishments with 100 or more employees in Appendix B industries must also submit 300 and 301 data (OSHA interpretation, 2024-04-16). The 100-employee requirement began in 2024 for the 2023 reporting period (OSHA, 2023 summary). Under 1904.41(c), the deadline is March 2 of the year after the covered year, so for calendar-year 2025 data it was March 2, 2026. The industry lists for Appendix A and B are not reproduced here, so check them in Subpart E on the eCFR alongside section 1904.41. See who must submit the 300A electronically for the full test.

Where the rule ends and your decision begins

Everything in the table above is the rule speaking. Everything below is you speaking. The coverage test produces several determinations that no document makes for you:

  • Headcount. Whether the company had 10 or fewer employees at all times last year, and how you counted part-time, seasonal and temporary workers.
  • Industry code. Which classification applies to each establishment, and whether it appears in Appendix A to Subpart B.
  • Establishment boundaries. Whether a site, a leased warehouse or a project location is one establishment or more.
  • Supervision. Whether you supervise a temporary worker day to day, which makes that worker's injury yours to consider for the log.
  • Recordability. Whether a case involves a work-related injury or illness that meets the recording criteria, including medical treatment beyond first aid and restricted work.
  • Filing. Whether, when and through which channel you report to OSHA, a State Plan agency or a carrier.

The rule gives you the questions and the sections to read. The answers are the employer's. The sections that govern recordability are the subject of our OSHA recordable injury guide, and a first-aid list paraphrase there is worth checking against the eCFR before you rely on it.

A defensible determination is one you can reconstruct. Write down what you concluded, the date, the headcount or industry code you used, and the section you read. When a site is added, a year turns over or a rule changes, redo the test and note the new date. A determination that nobody wrote down tends to be rediscovered under pressure.

Enforcement and the electronic record

OSHA has told its compliance officers to check the ITA database during all inspections "to identify employers that were required to submit records" but did not (OSHA interpretation, 2024). A March 2026 memo describes an ITA Non-Responder Enforcement Program. Area offices match open inspections against establishments that may not have submitted calendar-year 2025 Form 300A data. Valid matches are handled under the April 2024 enforcement procedures (OSHA memo, 2026-03-23).

The scale of the electronic record is large. For calendar year 2023, OSHA received Form 300A data on more than 1.5 million work-related injuries and illnesses from more than 385,000 establishments. Those cases accounted for more than 18 million days away from work and 22 million days of job transfer or restriction (OSHA, 2023 data).

On OSHA recordkeeping penalties, we print no dollar figures. Federal OSHA sets separate maximum penalties for serious, other-than-serious, willful, repeated and failure-to-abate violations, and it adjusts those maximums for inflation each year. Read the current amounts on OSHA's penalties page before you put a number in a memo or a budget. State Plans set their own penalties. Which violation applies to a particular recordkeeping failure is OSHA's determination, and this article does not predict it.

Where tools fit, and what to do this week

Many employers keep the coverage determination in a spreadsheet and a calendar reminder. That works while one person holds the context. It stops working when the person leaves, when a second state is added, or when someone asks why a site was treated as exempt. A spreadsheet holds the dates and the headcount. It does not hold the section that produced a conclusion or when it was last checked.

If you are a single-state employer with 20 to 100 employees, a store workbook is the better fit than a subscription. The OSHA recordkeeping coverage and jurisdiction workbook works through the size test, the industry-code check and the establishment list from your inputs. It shows each result next to the section it comes from. You review the result, you make the determination, and you file. The workbook does not give legal advice or submit anything to OSHA.

For multi-site and multi-state employers, ClaimsIntake's app is being built around a versioned rule table. Each rule row will carry its agency citation and a "last verified" date. The same injury report is meant to feed the OSHA 301, the 300 log and the 300A. The app is not live, and you can follow its progress on the waitlist. The employer will still decide recordability and compensability and file everything itself.

This week, five steps put the coverage test on paper:

  1. Write down the company's peak headcount last year, and how you counted part-time and seasonal workers.
  2. Find each establishment's industry code, and check it against Appendix A to Subpart B on the eCFR.
  3. List every site expected to operate for a year or longer, and note the ones that need a separate log.
  4. Record who supervises temporary and contract workers day to day at each site.
  5. Put February 1, April 30 and March 2 on a shared calendar with a backup owner, and confirm any State Plan differences with the state agency.

Reference material with citations, not legal advice. You decide recordability and compensability, and you file.

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