The official fillable forms are free, straight from OSHA: the recordkeeping forms package (PDF) contains the Form 300 log, the 300A summary, the 301 incident report, the instructions, and the worksheet for estimating employment and hours. A Spanish version exists too, and OSHA's forms page hosts both. Never pay a forms site for these.
If you'd rather not do PDF data entry and column math, our free online 300 log fills the same structure in your browser and totals the 300A automatically. Nothing uploads, no signup.
Using the official PDFs without losing an afternoon
- Download first, then fill. OSHA's own instruction: don't fill or print the PDF inside your browser's viewer. Save the file, open it in a real PDF reader, then type. Browser viewers are the usual culprit when typed entries vanish.
- The log page is landscape and dense. Thirteen entry columns across one sheet. Print settings matter; shrink-to-fit turns it into an eye chart.
- The math is yours to do. The PDF doesn't total columns G through J, doesn't count days, and doesn't carry sums to the 300A. Every February error we've seen traces back to this step.
- One file per year per establishment. The log is a calendar-year record kept per location. Name the files accordingly and your five-year archive takes care of itself.
Do the forms have to look exactly like OSHA's?
No. Equivalent forms are acceptable as long as they carry the same information and are as readable and understandable as the government versions (29 CFR 1904.29(b)(4)). That's why spreadsheets and software output count, and why many companies use their workers' comp first report as the 301 equivalent. What matters is the content, the posted and certified 300A, and being able to produce completed forms on request.
What you never do with these forms
Mail them to OSHA. There's no address waiting for your 300A; OSHA doesn't accept the forms by mail or email. The only routine submission is electronic, through the Injury Tracking Application, and only for covered establishments. Everyone else keeps the forms on file, posts the summary each February, and produces copies when someone with the right to ask asks.
PDF vs online tool, honestly
| Official PDFs | Our free online log | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free |
| Totals and 300A math | By hand | Automatic |
| Privacy case handling | You remember the rule | Checkbox does it |
| Where data lives | Your PDF file | Your browser only; export and backup anytime |
| Print output | The official sheets | Clean print versions of the log and summary |
Either path is compliant. The PDF route just leaves the totaling, day counting, and privacy-case handling to you, in February, from memory. If the year should run itself instead, that's the paid product: phone intake, the recordable decision walked with citations, and OSHA's actual PDFs filled by software.
The government's forms, filled by software
SiteSafetyHQ fills OSHA's own 300, 301, and 300A PDFs from your incident reports, masks privacy cases, totals everything, and watches the deadlines. The forms an inspector sees are the official ones, produced in seconds.
No card, no demo call. Flat $39 to $199/mo by company size.
Quick answers
Is there an official Excel version of the 300 log?
OSHA distributes the fillable PDF package; it doesn't distribute an official XLSX. Spreadsheet versions are fine as equivalent forms under 1904.29(b)(4) as long as they carry the same information and stay readable.
Are the forms really free? Sites keep asking me to pay.
Really free, from osha.gov/recordkeeping/forms. Paid "OSHA forms" sites are reselling a public document. Same for the Spanish package.
Which form do I need if someone just got hurt?
Probably all three, in sequence: the case goes on the 300 log and gets a 301 incident report within 7 calendar days, and it flows into the 300A totals you post next February. The forms guide untangles them.
Primary sources (checked August 4, 2026): osha.gov/recordkeeping/forms (official downloads) · 29 CFR 1904.29 (forms and equivalents) · osha.gov/injuryreporting (electronic submission)
SiteSafetyHQ is an independent product, not affiliated with OSHA. Workflow help, not legal advice.