A privacy case is a recordable injury or illness in one of six sensitive categories where you must not write the employee's name on the OSHA 300 log. You enter "privacy case" in the name column instead, and keep the real name matched to the case number on a separate, confidential list (29 CFR 1904.29(b)(6) and (b)(7)).
The point is simple: employees and their representatives have the right to see the 300 log, so the log itself has to protect the handful of cases nobody wants circulating with a name attached. The case still counts in every total; only the name is masked.
The six categories
You treat a case as a privacy concern case if, and only if, it involves (1904.29(b)(7)):
- An injury or illness to an intimate body part or the reproductive system
- An injury or illness resulting from a sexual assault
- A mental illness
- HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis
- A needlestick injury or a cut from a sharp object contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material
- Any other illness, if the employee independently and voluntarily asks that their name be kept off the log
OSHA says this list is the whole list (1904.29(b)(8)). A broken leg is not a privacy case, no matter how much the employee would prefer otherwise, and category six covers other illnesses only, not injuries.
What you actually do
- Log the case normally in every other respect: classification, day counts, and description all stay on the 300 log, and the case flows into your 300A totals like any other. The 300A carries no names anyway.
- Write "privacy case" in the name column.
- Keep a separate, confidential list pairing each masked case number with the employee's name, so the record stays complete for anyone with a legal right to it (1904.29(b)(6)). That list is retained five years with the rest of the records (1904.33(a)).
- Soften the description if it would give the person away. If you reasonably believe the details themselves would identify the employee, you may use discretion in describing the injury, as long as the entry still identifies the cause and general severity (1904.29(b)(9)).
Why small companies get this wrong
On a 20-person crew, everyone knows who got hurt last month; masking a name on a form can feel pointless. It isn't. The log lives for five years, gets copied for inspectors within four business hours on request, and increasingly gets attached to prequalification packages. The masking is about who reads the paper later, not who heard about it at the yard. It's also one of the few recordkeeping requirements with a real privacy interest behind it, so it's a bad one to shrug at.
Masked on the log, complete in the record
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Quick answers
Does a privacy case still count in my totals and rates?
Yes. It's a normal recordable case for the 300A totals and your TRIR. Only the name treatment differs.
Can an employee demand privacy-case treatment for a broken arm?
No. The six categories are exclusive. The employee-request option (category six) applies to other illnesses only. For everything else, the name goes on the log.
Who gets to see the confidential name list?
Keep it tightly held: it exists so the full record can be produced for those with authority to see it, like government representatives during an inspection. It is not part of what you post or what you hand over with routine log copies.
Primary sources (checked August 4, 2026): 29 CFR 1904.29(b)(6) through (b)(9) (privacy cases) · 29 CFR 1904.33 (retention) · 29 CFR 1904.35 (employee access)
SiteSafetyHQ is an independent product, not affiliated with OSHA. Workflow help, not legal advice.