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Guide · Construction · Updated November 2026

OSHA Recordkeeping Guide

Recordkeeping failures are citable on their own — even when the injury itself was handled well. The forms, the clocks, and the traps, in one guide.

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The guide

What to Record, Report, and Post

If an inspector asked for your 300 log, your 301s, and your posted 300A tomorrow, could you produce all three — agreeing with each other?

1

Who Must Keep Records

29 CFR Part 1904

  • OSHA recordkeeping is the federal requirement under 29 CFR Part 1904 to record and report work-related injuries and illnesses
  • It applies to covered employers — including construction companies and other employers with more than 10 employees in most industries
  • Some industries and small employers are partially exempt, so confirm your coverage rather than assuming the rule does not apply to you
  • Accurate records matter beyond compliance: OSHA uses submitted data to target inspections, and prequalification teams read your rates before you bid
2

The Three Forms — and What Each One Does

Forms 300, 300A & 301

  • OSHA Form 300 is the running log maintained throughout the year, recording each recordable injury or illness as it happens
  • OSHA Form 301 captures the detail of each individual incident: the circumstances, the nature of the injury, and the treatment provided
  • OSHA Form 300A is the annual summary that tallies the year’s recorded injuries by category — it must be certified by a company executive
  • The certified 300A summary must be posted in the workplace from February 1 through April 30 each year, where employees can see it
  • One incident, three records: the log entry, the incident detail, and the summary line must all agree — a mismatch between them is itself a finding
3

What Counts as Recordable

29 CFR 1904 — Recordability Criteria

  • Record any work-related injury or illness that results in death
  • Record cases involving days away from work, restricted work, or transfer to another job
  • Record cases requiring medical treatment beyond first aid
  • Record cases involving loss of consciousness, or a significant diagnosis by a physician
  • First aid alone does not make a case recordable — the judgment call between first aid and medical treatment beyond first aid is the decision to document, not to guess
4

The Reporting Clocks and Electronic Submission

Severe-Incident Reporting · Injury Tracking Application

  • Report any work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours
  • Report any amputation, loss of an eye, or inpatient hospitalization within 24 hours
  • Failure to report on time is itself a citable violation — the reporting clock runs from when the employer learns of the incident, so the internal notification chain is part of compliance
  • Since 2017, certain employers must also electronically submit injury and illness data to OSHA through the Injury Tracking Application (ITA)
  • Keep the submitted data and the underlying forms consistent — the electronic submission is checked against the same log an inspector will ask to see
Where companies get caught

4 Recordkeeping Failures Behind Most Citations

The injury was handled. The record is what gets cited.

The first-aid judgment call, made nowhere

The line between first aid and medical treatment beyond first aid decides whether a case is recordable. When nobody documents the reasoning, the same injury gets recorded on one site and not on another — and an inspector reads inconsistency as inaccuracy.

The 8-hour and 24-hour clocks nobody owned

Fatalities get 8 hours; amputations, eye loss, and inpatient hospitalizations get 24. Both clocks start when the employer learns of the incident. If the site supervisor does not know who to call, the clock runs while the company figures out its own chain of command.

The 300A posted late, unsigned, or not at all

The annual summary must be certified by a company executive and posted February 1 through April 30. An uncertified summary, a summary posted in the office instead of where employees can see it, or a missing posting window are all easy findings — and entirely preventable.

Inaccurate records as their own violation

Inaccurate or incomplete recordkeeping is itself a citable violation, separate from whatever caused the injury. A company that handled an incident well but recorded it badly can still be cited — the record is the compliance, not just evidence of it.

The fix

One Calendar for Every Compliance Date

CertTracker watches training renewals, certification expirations, and compliance deadlines across all your crews — and reminds you at 90, 60, 30, 7, and 1 day out.

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

The recordkeeping questions safety managers ask us most.

What is the difference between OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301?

Form 300 is the running log of every recordable injury or illness through the year. Form 301 holds the detail of each individual incident — circumstances, nature of injury, treatment. Form 300A is the annual summary by category, certified by a company executive and posted February 1 through April 30. All three must agree with each other.

What injuries and illnesses are recordable under OSHA?

Any work-related case resulting in death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant diagnosis by a physician. First aid alone does not make a case recordable — document the reasoning behind each borderline call.

How quickly must severe incidents be reported to OSHA?

A work-related fatality must be reported within 8 hours. An amputation, loss of an eye, or inpatient hospitalization must be reported within 24 hours. Late reporting is itself a citable violation, so the internal notification chain from site to office is part of the requirement.

When must the OSHA 300A summary be posted?

The certified annual summary must be posted in the workplace from February 1 through April 30 each year, where employees can see it, and it must be certified by a company executive. A summary that is uncertified or posted where workers do not see it does not satisfy the rule.

Do employers have to submit injury data to OSHA electronically?

Since 2017, certain employers are required to electronically submit injury and illness data through OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA). The submitted data must match the underlying 300 log — the electronic record and the paper record are checked against each other.

How can software help with OSHA recordkeeping?

CertTracker keeps the training and certification side of the record straight — who was trained, when, and when it renews — alongside the compliance calendar, with reminders at 90, 60, 30, 7, and 1 day out. Pair it with a disciplined 300/300A/301 process and the annual posting window becomes a calendar event, not a February scramble.

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