Three forms, one system. The Form 300 is the running log of the year's work-related injuries and illnesses. The Form 301 is a one-page incident report you complete for every case on that log. The Form 300A is the annual summary of the log's totals, which a company executive signs and you post from February 1 through April 30.
OSHA's recordkeeping rule, 29 CFR Part 1904, uses the three forms together: every recordable case becomes a line on the 300 and a detailed 301, and once a year the log's totals roll up into the posted 300A. Here's the whole system at a glance.
| Form 300 | Form 301 | Form 300A | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Log of work-related injuries and illnesses, one line per case | Injury and illness incident report, one page per case | Summary of the year's totals from the log |
| When it's completed | Within 7 calendar days of learning of a recordable case | Within 7 calendar days of learning of a recordable case | At year end, after reviewing the log |
| Names on it? | Yes, except privacy cases | Yes, plus details | No names, totals only |
| Posted? | Never | Never | Feb 1 through Apr 30, every establishment |
| Kept for | 5 years, kept updated | 5 years | 5 years |
Form 300: the log
One line per case: name, job title, date, where it happened, what happened, the outcome classification (death, days away, job transfer or restriction, other recordable), day counts, and the injury or illness type. You must add a case within 7 calendar days of learning about it (1904.29(b)(3)), and for certain sensitive cases the name is left off and replaced with "privacy case" (the privacy case rule). The log stays current all year and stays in your files afterward. If OSHA or NIOSH asks for it during an inspection, you have four business hours to produce copies (1904.40(a)), which is a strong argument for knowing where it is. Our column-by-column walkthrough covers filling it out, or you can just use the free online 300 log and let the totals compute themselves.
Form 301: the incident report
The 301 is the detail behind the log line: how the injury happened, what the employee was doing, the object or substance involved, the care received. Same 7-calendar-day clock as the log entry (1904.29(b)(3)). Useful to know: you don't have to use OSHA's printed 301. An equivalent form with the same information counts (1904.29(b)(4)), and many companies use their workers' comp first report of injury as the equivalent, since it asks for largely the same facts. One incident, one form, filed with the log.
Form 300A: the annual summary
At year end you review the log, total the columns, add average employment and total hours worked, and have a company executive certify it (1904.32). Then it goes on the wall from February 1 through April 30, even in a year with zero cases. The 300A is also the form behind the March 2 electronic submission for covered establishments. Dates, signers, and the late fix are in when is the 300A due.
Where people get tripped up
- Posting the wrong form. The 300 log never gets posted; it has names on it. Only the 300A goes up.
- Treating the 301 as optional. Every recordable case needs one, not just the serious ones. The equivalent-form rule is what keeps this from being double work.
- Forgetting the 300A in a clean year. Zero recordables still means a posted summary with zeros (1904.32(b)(2)(i)).
- Only thinking about the forms in February. The 7-day clocks on the 300 and 301 run all year. February is just when the totals become public.
One phone report fills all three
In SiteSafetyHQ, whoever saw the injury reports it on a phone. The app walks the recordable-or-not decision with the rule cited, adds the 300 line, starts the 301 with its 7-day clock tracked, and totals the 300A all year. It fills OSHA's actual PDFs, not lookalikes.
No card, no demo call. Flat $39 to $199/mo by company size.
Quick answers
Do I mail any of these forms to OSHA?
No. OSHA doesn't accept paper forms by mail or forms by email. Covered establishments submit 300A data (and for some industries, 300 and 301 data) electronically through the Injury Tracking Application. Everyone else simply keeps the forms and produces them on request.
Can I keep the forms on a computer instead of paper?
Yes. Equivalent electronic records are fine as long as you can produce the completed forms when they're required, like the four-business-hour window when a government representative asks (1904.40). That's exactly what recordkeeping software is.
Which employees can see these forms?
Employees, former employees, and their representatives have the right to view the 300 log (with privacy protections) and their own 301 reports under 1904.35. The posted 300A is public to the whole workforce by design.
Primary sources (checked August 4, 2026): 29 CFR 1904.29 (forms) · 29 CFR 1904.32 (annual summary) · 29 CFR 1904.33 (retention) · 29 CFR 1904.40 (providing records) · osha.gov/recordkeeping/forms
SiteSafetyHQ is an independent product, not affiliated with OSHA. Workflow help, not legal advice.