CHAPTER I: DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
SUBCHAPTER b: REGULATION OF WORKING CONDITIONS
PART 350 HEALTH AND SAFETY
SECTION 350.290 GENERAL RECORDING CRITERIA
Section 350.290 General Recording Criteria
An injury or illness meets the general recording criteria, and is, therefore recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. A case meets the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed 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.
A work-related injury or illness must be recorded if it results in one or more of the following:
A) Death (see subsection (b)(2)).
B) Days away from work (see subsection (b)(3)).
C) Restricted work or transfer to another job (see subsection (b)(4)).
D) Medical treatment beyond first aid (see subsection (b)(5)).
E) Loss of consciousness (see subsection (b)(6)).
F) A significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional (see subsection (b)(7)).
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. He or she must also report any work-related fatality to IDOL within 8 hours, as required by Section 350.410.
When an injury or illness involves one or more days away from work, 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 of the number of calendar days away from work in the number of days column. If the employee is out for an extended period of time, enter an estimate of the days that the employee will be away and update the day count when the actual number of days is known. Begin counting days away on the day after the injury occurred or the illness began.
4) Advice of Health Care Professional
A) When a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that the worker stay at home but the employee comes to work anyway, record the 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. If the licensed health care professional recommends days away, encourage the employee to follow that recommendation. The days away must be recorded whether or not the employee follows the licensed health care professional's recommendation. If recommendations are received from 2 or more licensed health care professionals, the employer must decide which is the most authoritative and record the case based upon that recommendation.
B) When a licensed health care professional recommends that the worker return to work but the employee stays at home anyway, 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.
A) The number of calendar days the employee was unable to work as a result of the injury or illness shall be counted, regardless of whether the employee was scheduled to work on those days. 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.
B) 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, record the case only if the employer receives information from a licensed health care professional indicating that the employee should not have worked or should have performed only restricted work during the weekend. The injury or illness must be recorded as a case with days away from work or restricted work and the day counts must be entered, as appropriate.
6) Day Before Scheduled Time Off
When a worker is injured or becomes ill on the day before scheduled time off, such as a holiday, planned vacation, or temporary closing, the case needs to be recorded only if the employer receives information from a licensed health care professional indicating that the employee should not have worked, or should have performed only restricted work, during the scheduled time off. The injury or illness shall be recorded as a case with days away from work or restricted work and the day counts shall be entered, as appropriate.
A) The employer may cap the total days away at 180 calendar days. 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 180 calendar days away from work and/or days of job transfer or restriction. In such a case, entering 180 in the total days away column will be considered adequate.
B) The employer may stop counting days if an employee who is away from work because of an injury or illness retires or leaves employment. If the employee leaves employment for some reason unrelated to the injury or illness, such as retirement, or to take another job, stop counting days away from work or days of restriction/job transfer. If the employee leaves because of the injury or illness, estimate the total number of days away or days of restriction/job transfer and enter the day count on the OSHA 300 Log.
C) If a case occurs in one year but results in days away during the next calendar year, only record the injury or illness once. 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 the annual summary is prepared, estimate the total number of calendar days the employee is expected to be away from work, use this number to calculate the total for the annual summary, and update the initial log entry later when the day count is known or reaches the 180-day cap.
8) 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, record the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log by placing a check mark in the space for job transfer or restriction and entering the number of restricted or transferred days in the restricted workdays column. 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 his or her job, or from working the full workday that he or she 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 his or her job, or not work the full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to work.
B) For recordkeeping purposes, an employee's routine functions are those work activities the employee regularly performs at least once per week.
C) Do not record restricted work or job transfers if the employer or the licensed health care professional imposes 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, evaluate the restriction in light of the routine functions of the injured or ill employee's job. If the restriction from the employer or licensed health care professional keeps the employee from performing one or more of his or her 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 the case must be recorded.
E) A partial day of work is recorded as a day of job transfer or restriction for recordkeeping purposes, except for the day on which the injury occurred or the illness began.
F) The case is not considered restricted work if the injured or ill worker produces fewer services than he or she would have produced prior to the injury or illness but otherwise performs all of the routine functions of his or her work. The case is considered restricted work only if the worker does not perform all of the routine functions of his or her job or does not work the full shift that he or she would otherwise have worked.
G) Restrictions from a licensed health care professional may be vague, such as limiting the employee to only "light duty" or instructing the employee to "take it easy for a week". If the licensed health care professional's recommendation is not clear, ask whether the employee can do all of his or her routine job functions and work all of his or her normally assigned work shift. If the answer to both of these questions is "yes", the case does not involve a work restriction and does not have to be recorded as such. 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. If you are unable to obtain this additional information from the licensed health care professional who recommended the restriction, record the injury or illness as a case involving restricted work.
H) If a licensed health care professional recommends a job restriction meeting the definition, but the employee does all of his or her routine job functions anyway, record the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log as a restricted work case. If a licensed health care professional recommends a job restriction, ensure that the employee complies with that restriction. If recommendations are received from 2 or more physicians or other licensed health care professionals, make a decision as to which recommendation is the most authoritative and record the case based upon that recommendation.
i) If an injured or ill employee assigned to a job other than his or her regular job for part of the day, the case involves transfer to another job. This does not include the day on which the injury or illness occurred.
ii) Both job transfer and restricted work cases are recorded in the same box on the OSHA 300 Log. EXAMPLE: if the employer assigns, or a licensed health care professional recommends that the employer assign, an injured or ill worker to his or her 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. Record an injury or illness that involves a job transfer by placing a check in the box for job transfer.
J) Count days of job transfer or restriction in the same way days away from work are counted, using subsection (b)(3) through (b)(7). The only difference is that, if the injured or ill employee is assigned to a job that has been modified or permanently changed in a manner that eliminates the routine functions the employee was restricted from performing, stop the day count when the modification or change is made permanent. You must count at least one day of restricted work or job transfer for the cases.
9) Medical Treatment Beyond First Aid
A) If a work-related injury or illness results in medical treatment beyond first aid, record it 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, enter a check mark in the box for cases in which the employee received medical treatment but remained at work and was not transferred or restricted.
B) Medical treatment means the management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder. For the purposes of this Subpart B, medical treatment does not include:
i) Visits to a physician or other licensed health care professional solely for observation or counseling;
ii) The conduct of diagnostic procedures, such as x-rays and blood tests, including the administration of prescription medications used solely for diagnostic purposes (e.g., eye drops to dilate pupils); or
iii) First aid as defined in subsection (b)(9)(C).
C) For the purposes of Subpart B, first aid means the following:
i) Using a non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength (for medications available in both prescription and non-prescription form, a recommendation by a licensed health care professional to use a non-prescription medication at prescription strength is considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes);
ii) Administering tetanus immunizations (other immunizations, such as Hepatitis B vaccine or rabies vaccine, are considered medical treatment);
iii) Cleaning, flushing or soaking wounds on the surface of the skin;
iv) Using wound coverings such as bandages, Band-Aids, gauze pads, etc., or using butterfly bandages or Steri-Strips (other wound closing devices such as sutures, staples, etc., are considered medical treatment);
vi) Using any non-rigid means of support, such as elastic bandages, wraps, non-rigid back belts, etc. (devices with rigid stays or other systems designed to immobilize parts of the body are considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes);
vii) Using temporary immobilization devices while transporting an accident victim (e.g., splints, slings, neck collars, back boards, etc.);
viii) Drilling of a fingernail or toenail to relieve pressure or draining fluid from a blister;
x) Removing foreign bodies from the eye using only irrigation or a cotton swab;
xi) Removing splinters or foreign material from areas other than the eye by irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs or other simple means;
xiii) Using massages (physical therapy or chiropractic treatment are considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes); or
xiv) Drinking fluids for relief of heat stress.
D) No other treatments are considered first aid for the purposes of this Subpart B.
E) The professional status of the person providing the treatment has no effect on what is considered first aid or medical treatment.
Even when these treatments are provided by a licensed health care professional, they are considered first aid. Similarly, treatment beyond first aid is considered to be medical treatment even when it is provided by someone other than a physician or other licensed health care professional.
10) Refusal of Medical Treatment
If a licensed health care professional recommends medical treatment, encourage the injured or ill employee to follow that recommendation. However, the case must be recorded even if the injured or ill employee does not follow the licensed health care professional's recommendation.
Record a work-related injury or illness if the worker becomes unconscious, regardless of the length of time the employee remains unconscious.
12) Significant Diagnosed Injury or Illness
A) Work-related cases involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum must always be recorded under the general criteria 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.
B) Most significant injuries and illnesses will result in one of the criteria listed in this Part, i.e., 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.