(1) The employer must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recording criteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in any of the following:
(a) Death;
(b) Days away from work;
(c) Restricted work or transfer to another job;
(d) Medical treatment beyond first aid;
(e) Loss of consciousness for any length of time.
(2) The employer must also record any case that involves a significant injury or illness (see WAC 296-27-01107(21)) diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work, job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
(3) The employer must record an injury or illness that results in death by entering a check mark on the OSHA 300 Log in the space for cases resulting in death.
(4) When an injury or illness involves one or more days away from work, the employer must record the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log with a check mark in the space for cases involving days away and an entry for the number of calendar days away from work in the number of days column. If the employee is out for an extended period, the employer must enter an estimate for the number of days that the employee will be away, and update the day count when the actual number of days is known.
(5) The employer begins counting days away on the day after the injury occurred or the illness began.
(6) To record an injury or illness for which the employee comes to work against the physician's or other licensed health care professional's recommendation, the employer must do the following:
(a) Record these injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 Log using the check box for cases with days away from work and enter the number of calendar days away recommended by the physician or other licensed health care professional.
(b) Record the days away whether the injured or ill employee follows the physician or licensed health care professional's recommendation or not.
Notes: | 1. If the employer receives recommendations from two or more physicians or other licensed health care professionals, the employer may make a decision as to which recommendation is the most authoritative and record the case based upon that recommendation. |
| 2. Encourage your employee to follow the recommendation. |
(7) When an employee decides to stay at home after the date a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that the employee return to work, the employer must 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.
(8) The employer 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). Weekend days, holidays, vacation days or other days off are included 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.
(9) When a worker is injured or becomes ill on a Friday and reports to work on a Monday, and was not scheduled to work on the weekend, the employer only needs to record this case if they receive information from a physician or other licensed health care professional indicating that the employee should not have worked, or should have performed only restricted work, during the weekend. If so, the employer must record the injury or illness as a case with days away from work or restricted work and enter the day counts as appropriate.
(10) If a worker is injured or becomes ill on the day before scheduled time off such as a holiday, a planned vacation, or a temporary plant closing, the employer only needs to record the case if they receive information from a physician or other licensed health care professional indicating that the employee should not have worked, or should have performed only restricted work, during the scheduled time off. If so, the employer must record the injury or illness as a case with days away from work or restricted work and enter the day counts as appropriate.
(11) The employer is not required to keep track of the number of calendar days away from work if the injury or illness resulted in more than one hundred eighty calendar days away from work or days of job transfer or restriction. In such a case, entering one hundred eighty in the total days away column will be considered adequate.
(12) If the employee leaves your company for some reason unrelated to the injury or illness, such as retirement, a plant closing, or to take another job, the employer may stop counting days away from work, days of restriction, or days of job transfer. If the employee leaves your company because of the injury or illness, the employer must estimate the total number of days away, days of restriction, or days of job transfer and enter the day count on the OSHA 300 Log.
(13) If a case occurs in one calendar year but results in days away during the next calendar year, the employer only records the injury or illness once. The employer must enter the number of calendar days away for the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log for the year in which the injury or illness occurred. If the employee is still away from work because of the injury or illness when you prepare the annual summary, estimate the total number of calendar days you expect the employee to be away from work. Then use this number to calculate the total for the annual summary. Update the initial log entry later when the day count is known or reaches the one hundred eighty day cap.
(14) The employer must meet the following requirements for recording restricted work or job transfer.
(a) When an injury or illness involves restricted work or job transfer but does not involve death or days away from work, the employer 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 enter the number of restricted or transferred days in the restricted workdays column.
(b) Restricted work occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness:
(i) The employer keeps the employee from performing one or more of the routine functions of their job, or from working the full workday that they would otherwise have been scheduled to work; or
(ii) A physician or other licensed health care professional 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 have been scheduled to work.
(c) The employer does not have to record restricted work or job transfers if you, the physician, or other licensed health care professional impose the restriction or transfer only for the day on which the injury occurred or the illness began.
(d) 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, the employer must evaluate the restriction in light of the routine functions of the injured or ill employee's job. If the restriction from you, the physician, or other licensed health care professional keeps the employee from performing one or more of their routine job functions, or from working the full workday the injured or ill employee would otherwise have worked, the employee's work has been restricted and you must record the case.
(e) If an employee works only for a partial work shift because of the work-related injury or illness, the employer must record the partial day of work as a day of job transfer or restriction. However, the employer need not record the partial day of work if it is the same day the injury occurred or the illness began.
Note: | The case is considered restricted work only if the worker does not perform all of the routine functions (see definition in this chapter) of their job or does not work the full shift that they would otherwise have worked. |
(15) If the employer is not clear about the physician or other licensed health care professional's recommendation (i.e., engage only in "light duty" or "take it easy for the week"), the employer may ask the physician or other licensed health care professional:
(a) "Can the employee do all of their routine job functions?"
(b) "Can the employee work all of their normally assigned work shift?"
(i) If the answer to both of these questions is "Yes," then the case does not involve a work restriction and does not have to be recorded.
(ii) If the answer to one or both of these questions is "No," the case involves restricted work and must be recorded as a restricted work case.
(iii) If the employer is unable to obtain this additional information from the physician or other licensed health care professional who recommended the restriction, record the injury or illness as a case involving restricted work.
(16) To record an injury or illness for which a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends a job restriction, but the employee does all of their routine job functions, the employer must do the following:
(a) Record the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log as a restricted work case.
(b) Record this job restriction even if the employee chooses to do all of their routine job functions.
Notes: | 1. If you receive recommendations from two or more physicians or other licensed health care professionals, you may make a decision as to which recommendation is the most authoritative and record the case based upon that recommendation. |
| 2. If a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends a job restriction, you should ensure that the employee complies with that restriction. |
(17) If the employer assigns an injured or ill employee to a job other than their regular job for part of the day, the employer must record the case as a job transfer.
Notes: | 1. This does not include the day on which the injury or illness occurred. |
| 2. Transfers to another job are recorded in the same way as restricted work cases on the OSHA 300 Log. Example: If you assign, or a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that you assign, an injured or ill worker to their routine job duties for part of the day and to another job for the rest of the day, the injury or illness involves a job transfer. You must record an injury or illness that involves a job transfer by placing a check in the box for job transfer. |
(18) The employer counts days of job transfer or restriction in the same way they count days away from work. The only difference is that, if the employer permanently assigns the injured or ill employee to a job that has been modified or permanently changed in a manner that eliminates the routine functions the employee was restricted from performing, the employer may stop the day count when the modification or change is made permanent. The employer must count at least one day of restricted work or job transfer for such cases.
(19) If a work-related injury or illness results in medical treatment beyond first aid, the employer must record the case on the OSHA 300 Log. If the injury or illness did not involve death, one or more days away from work, one or more days of restricted work, or one or more days of job transfer, the employer enters a check mark in the box for cases where the employee received medical treatment but remained at work and was not transferred or restricted.
Note: | The professional status of the person providing treatment has no effect on what is considered first aid or medical treatment as defined in WAC 296-27-051. |
(20) The employer must record a case even if the injured or ill employee does not follow the physician or other licensed health care professional's recommendation for medical treatment.
(21) The employer must record "significant" diagnosed injuries or illnesses, such as work-related cases involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum at the time of diagnosis by a physician or other licensed health care professional even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
Note: | OSHA believes that most significant injuries and illnesses will result in one of the criteria listed in WAC 296-27-01107(1): Death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. 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. |