OSHA Form 300 Explained in Plain English

You got a letter from OSHA, or your insurance company mentioned "Form 300," or you're preparing for a safety inspection, and now you're staring at a government form that looks like it was designed to confuse you.

What is this thing? Do you need it? How do you fill it out? When is it due?

Let's translate OSHA Form 300 from bureaucrat-speak into English.

What Is OSHA Form 300?

Official name: "Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses"

What it actually is: A spreadsheet of every OSHA-recordable incident that happened at your workplace during the year.

Think of it as your workplace injury logbook. Every time someone gets hurt at work badly enough to meet OSHA's recordability criteria, you add a line to this form.

Who Needs to Keep a Form 300?

You need Form 300 if:

- You have MORE than 10 employees, AND

- You're NOT in a low-hazard industry (like retail, finance, real estate, or professional services)

You DON'T need Form 300 if:

- You have 10 or fewer employees (small business exemption), OR

- You're in a designated low-hazard industry

But wait: Even if you're exempt from keeping the 300 Log, you still must report severe incidents (hospitalization, amputation, loss of eye, death) to OSHA within 24 hours. The exemption is only for the paperwork, not for severe incident reporting.

The Three OSHA Forms (And How They're Related)

OSHA has three forms that work together. Here's how they connect:

Form 300: The Log (The Master List)

This is the running list of ALL recordable incidents for the year. One line per incident. You update this throughout the year as incidents happen.

Think of it like: Your checkbook register - a chronological list of every transaction (incident).

Form 301: The Incident Report (The Details)

For EACH incident on your Form 300, you need a corresponding Form 301 with full details about what happened.

Think of it like: The receipt for each transaction - detailed backup documentation.

Form 300A: The Annual Summary (The Public Posting)

At the end of the year, you summarize your Form 300 into a Form 300A (totals only, no employee names), and you MUST post this in your workplace from February 1 through April 30.

Think of it like: Your annual tax summary - totals only, posted publicly.

What Goes On Form 300?

Form 300 has columns for:

1. Case number (just number them sequentially: 1, 2, 3...)

2. Employee name (or "privacy case" for sensitive injuries)

3. Job title (driver, warehouse associate, mechanic, etc.)

4. Date of injury (when it happened)

5. Where the event occurred (parking lot, warehouse, delivery route)

6. Description of injury (what happened and what body part was injured)

7. Type of illness or injury (check boxes: injury, skin disorder, respiratory, poisoning, hearing loss, other)

8. Days away from work (how many days employee couldn't come in)

9. Days of restricted work (how many days employee came in but couldn't do normal job)

10. Death checkbox (if applicable)

How to Fill Out Form 300 (Step by Step)

Let's walk through a real example.

Example Incident:

On March 15, 2024, your driver Marcus Thompson slipped on ice in the warehouse parking lot, fractured his wrist, went to the ER, got a cast, and was out of work for 6 weeks (42 days). He came back on restricted duty (no lifting) for 2 weeks (14 days), then resumed normal work.

How you'd record this on Form 300:

| Column | Entry |

|--------|-------|

| Case # | 3 (assuming this is your 3rd incident of the year) |

| Employee Name | Marcus Thompson |

| Job Title | Delivery Driver |

| Date of Injury | 03/15/2024 |

| Where Event Occurred | Warehouse parking lot |

| Injury Description | Slipped on ice, fractured left wrist |

| Classify (check one) | [X] Injury |

| Days Away | 42 |

| Days Restricted | 14 |

| Death | [ ] |

That's it. One line on the form.

You'd also need to fill out a Form 301 (Incident Report) with more details about Marcus's injury, but the Form 300 is just the summary line.

Common Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

Mistake 1: Waiting Until the End of the Year

Wrong: "I'll fill out Form 300 in January when I have to post the summary."

Right: Record incidents as they happen (or within 7 calendar days of learning about them). If you wait until the end of the year, you'll forget details, employees will have moved on, and you'll have incomplete records.

Mistake 2: Recording Non-Recordable Incidents

Wrong: "Better safe than sorry - I'll record everything, even first aid."

Why it's wrong: Over-recording makes your injury rates look worse than they are, which can trigger OSHA inspections and increase insurance premiums.

Right: Only record incidents that meet OSHA's recordability criteria (see our guide: "Which Incidents Do You Actually Have to Report to OSHA?").

Mistake 3: Forgetting Privacy Cases

Wrong: Recording "Jane Doe - Sexual assault injury" on a publicly posted form.

Right: For injuries involving sexual assault, mental illness, HIV, hepatitis, or tuberculosis, write "Privacy Case" instead of the employee's name. Keep a separate confidential list matching privacy case numbers to employee names.

Mistake 4: Not Counting Days Correctly

Wrong: Counting only weekdays the employee missed.

Right: Count ALL calendar days away from work or on restriction, including weekends and holidays. If Marcus was out for 6 weeks, that's 42 calendar days, not 30 weekdays.

Cap: OSHA caps days away and restricted days at 180 calendar days each. If someone is out longer, you still only write "180" on the form.

Mistake 5: Not Updating for Later Changes

Wrong: Marcus was initially thought to be out for 1 week, but ended up out for 6 weeks. You recorded "7 days" and never updated it.

Right: When you learn the injury was worse than initially thought, go back and update the Form 300 with the correct total days away.

When Do You Need to Submit Form 300?

Trick question: In most cases, you DON'T submit Form 300 to OSHA.

Here's the timeline:

Throughout the Year: Maintain the Form

Update your Form 300 within 7 calendar days of learning about a recordable injury.

February 1: Create Form 300A (Summary)

At the end of the year, total up your Form 300 and transfer the totals to Form 300A (the summary form). This is the one you'll post publicly.

February 1 - April 30: Post Form 300A

Print out Form 300A, have a company executive sign it, and post it in a visible location (break room, near time clock, etc.) where employees can see it. Leave it up for 3 months.

March 2: Submit Electronically (If Required)

If you have 250+ employees in certain high-hazard industries, OR if you have 20-249 employees in specific designated industries, you must submit Form 300A data to OSHA electronically through their Injury Tracking Application (ITA) portal.

Most small businesses DON'T have to submit electronically - you just keep the records on-site in case of an OSHA inspection.

Keep for 5 Years

If you’re required to keep OSHA records, you generally must keep Form 300, Form 301, and Form 300A for 5 years following the year they cover. For example, 2024 records are retained through the end of 2029.

What If You Have No Recordable Injuries?

Good news: You still need to complete Form 300A (the summary) and post it, but it will show all zeros.

Bad news: You still have to post it. You can't just skip it because you had a perfect year.

The Real Challenge: Collecting the Information

Here's the dirty secret about Form 300: The form itself is easy to fill out.

The HARD part is gathering the information to put on it.

Your incident records are probably scattered across:

- Texts from supervisors reporting injuries

- Emails from employees saying they went to the doctor

- Workers comp claims from your insurance company

- Random notes in someone's desk drawer

- Payroll records showing who was out

- Medical bills you paid

- That spreadsheet someone started and abandoned

When February rolls around and you need to create your Form 300A summary, you're frantically trying to remember: "Wait, did that injury happen in 2023 or 2024? How many days was Sarah out? Did Marcus get restricted duty or just take time off?"

The Solution: Stop Fighting With Scattered Records

This is exactly why we’re building an OSHA recordkeeping helper. Instead of hunting down info across texts, emails, and spreadsheets, the idea is you upload what you have:

- Workers comp forms

- Email threads about injuries

- Text screenshots from supervisors

- Your half-finished injury spreadsheet

- Literally anything with incident information

The workflow we’re building:

1. Extracts the incidents from your messy documents

2. Classifies them as recordable or first-aid-only using OSHA rules

3. Asks you clarifying questions when data is missing ("How many days was Marcus out?")

4. Generates your forms pre-filled and ready to post

You get:

- Form 300 (the log) - auto-populated from your records

- Form 301 (incident reports) - one per recordable case

- Form 300A (the summary) - ready to sign and post

- ITA CSV files - if you need to submit electronically

Join the waitlist at SmallBizAutomations.com

Key Takeaways

1. Form 300 is a log of all recordable workplace injuries for the year (one line per incident)

2. You need it if you have more than 10 employees and aren't in a low-hazard industry

3. Update it as you go (within 7 days of learning about injuries), don't wait until year-end

4. At year-end, create Form 300A (summary) and post it February 1 - April 30

5. Keep records for 5 years (300, 301, and 300A)

6. Most small businesses don't submit to OSHA - you just keep records on-site for inspections

7. The hard part isn't the form, it's gathering the scattered information to put on it

If you’re stuck doing the annual “rebuild the past” ritual, join the waitlist. Not legal advice.