OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting

For supervisors, HR, safety coordinators and recordkeepers: decide what is recordable, keep the OSHA 300, 300A and 301 right, and report severe injuries on time.

For: Supervisors, HR professionals, safety coordinators, office managers and anyone who keeps or signs OSHA injury and illness records

  • 2 contact hours
  • 8 modules
  • 7 interactives
  • 4 job aids
  • Updated October 11, 2026

What you will be able to do

  • Determine whether an establishment must keep OSHA injury and illness records, using the size and industry exemptions in 29 CFR 1904.1 and 1904.2.
  • Decide whether an injury or illness is work-related and a new case under 29 CFR 1904.5 and 1904.6.
  • Apply the general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7, including the first aid list, day counting and the special rules for needlesticks and hearing loss.
  • Complete, certify, post, retain and electronically submit the OSHA 300, 301 and 300A forms correctly, including privacy concern cases.
  • Report fatalities, inpatient hospitalizations, amputations and losses of an eye to OSHA within the required time frames.
  • Maintain a reporting procedure that encourages employees to report and protects them from retaliation under 29 CFR 1904.35 and Section 11(c).

Learn how 29 CFR Part 1904 works from the first injury report to the annual summary. You will decide whether your establishment must keep records, test cases against the work-relatedness and recording criteria, tell first aid from medical treatment, count days away and restricted days, and fill out the OSHA 300 Log, 301 Incident Report and 300A Summary. You will also learn the 8-hour and 24-hour severe injury reporting rules and the electronic submission requirements.

Built for the people who actually make the calls: safety coordinators, HR generalists, plant and store managers, office managers at small firms, and supervisors who take the first report. No prior recordkeeping experience is needed.

Recordkeeping errors are among the easiest OSHA citations to avoid, and an honest log is one of the best tools you have for finding hazards. This course is scenario-led: every module walks through a realistic US workplace case, and you leave with a JHA template, a recordkeeping checklist, an incident report form and a training sign-off record.

What you’ll be able to do Monday morning

  1. Check whether each of your establishments is exempt, partially exempt or required to keep records and submit data electronically.
  2. Run any open injury case through the four questions: work-related, new case, general criteria, special rule.
  3. Use the first aid list in 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) to decide whether a treatment makes a case recordable.
  4. Confirm your OSHA 300 Log entries were made within seven calendar days and that privacy concern cases are handled correctly.
  5. Post the number for reporting severe injuries (OSHA 1-800-321-6742) next to your emergency contacts and tell supervisors about the 8-hour and 24-hour clocks.
  6. Read your injury reporting policy line by line and remove anything that could discourage an employee from reporting.

Curriculum

8 modules · 24 lessons · about 2 contact hours

01Does your workplace have to keep OSHA injury records?Free preview14 min
  1. What is OSHA recordkeeping, and why does it matter?
  2. Which employers are exempt from keeping the routine records?
  3. Which locations and which workers go on your log?
  • Decision tree: Is this case recordable?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

02Is it work-related, and is it a new case?14 min
  1. How does OSHA decide whether an injury is work-related?
  2. What are the exceptions to work-relatedness?
  3. When is a recurring problem a new case?
  • Branching scenario: Second shift at the box plant

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

03First aid or medical treatment? Applying the general recording criteria15 min
  1. What are the general recording criteria?
  2. What exactly counts as first aid?
  3. How do recommendations and refusals affect recording?
  • Sort activity: First aid or medical treatment?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

04How do you count days away and restricted work, and which special rules apply?15 min
  1. How do you count days away from work?
  2. What is restricted work, and what is a job transfer?
  3. Which special recording rules should you know?
  • Spot the issue: Spot the errors on this OSHA 300 Log extract

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

05How do you complete, post, keep and submit the 300, 301 and 300A?15 min
  1. What goes on each of the three forms?
  2. How do you protect privacy on the log?
  3. How do you certify, post, keep and submit the records?
  • Spot the issue: Spot the problems in this injury reporting policy

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

06When must you report a severe injury to OSHA, and how fast?14 min
  1. Which events must be reported, and by when?
  2. How do you report, and what will OSHA ask?
  3. What happens after the report, and how do State Plans differ?
  • Matching activity: Match the event to the rule

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

07How do you keep reporting honest, and how do you put it all together?16 min
  1. What does 1904.35 require employers to do?
  2. Which practices can discourage reporting?
  3. How do you decide any case in four questions?
  • Self-assessment: How healthy is your recordkeeping program?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

08How do you turn your records into prevention?14 min
  1. How do you calculate and read injury rates?
  2. How should you investigate a recorded case?
  3. How do you build a recordkeeping routine that lasts?
  • Decision tree: Is this case recordable?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

Final assessment: 23 questions, 80% to pass, then your certificate

Try it now, no account needed

Second shift at the box plant

A branching scenario from this course. Your choices are not saved.

Free sample activity

Second shift at the box plant

You are Ilona Szabo, safety coordinator at a corrugated box plant in Kankakee, Illinois. At 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, second-shift lead Joaquin Ferrell calls: forklift operator Selorm Agyeman pinned his foot between a forklift and a loading dock bumper. Make each decision.

Inside the course

Practice activities

  • Decision tree1
  • Branching scenario1
  • Sort activity1
  • Spot the issue2
  • Matching activity1
  • Self-assessment1

Job aids you keep

  • Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) Template: Post-Incident Follow-UpTemplate
  • OSHA Recordkeeping and Reporting ChecklistChecklist
  • Work Injury and Illness Incident ReportTemplate
  • Recordkeeping and Reporting Training Sign-Off RecordLog

Credit and approval status

Certificate of completion

This course awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. It has not been approved or accredited by OSHA, any OSHA State Plan, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP), IACET or any other accreditor, and it is not OSHA Outreach Training Program (10- or 30-hour) training. It is awareness training on 29 CFR Part 1904: it does not replace your employer's procedures, a State Plan's own recordkeeping and reporting rules, or advice from OSHA, a safety professional or an attorney. Check with your employer or certifying body whether this course can count toward your training or recertification needs.

Pathways we are pursuing or may pursue include continuing education units issued by a provider accredited under the IACET standard and, where eligible, recertification points with the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. No approval exists today; any approval will be shown on this page only after it is granted.

Our full approvals list

Questions about this course

Does this course earn continuing education or OSHA certification?

No. You earn a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. The course is not approved or accredited by OSHA, a State Plan, BCSP, IACET or any other body, and it is not OSHA Outreach (10- or 30-hour) training. OSHA does not certify recordkeepers. Ask your employer or certifying body whether they accept this course for your purposes.

Who should take this course?

Anyone who decides whether injuries are recordable, fills out or signs the OSHA 300, 300A or 301 forms, submits data to OSHA, or takes the first injury report from employees. That usually means safety coordinators, HR staff, plant, store and office managers, and frontline supervisors. Small business owners who handle these tasks themselves will also find it practical.

My company has fewer than 11 employees. Do I still need this?

Possibly. Companies with ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year are partially exempt from keeping the routine records, but every employer must still report fatalities, in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and losses of an eye to OSHA, and OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics can ask you in writing to keep records. Module 1 shows how to check.

Does this course cover my State Plan's rules?

It teaches the federal rule in 29 CFR Part 1904 and points out where State Plans differ, with California's 8-hour serious injury reporting rule as an example. State Plan rules must be at least as effective as federal rules but can be stricter. If you work in a State Plan state, confirm the details with your State Plan.

How long does the course take, and how do I pass?

Plan on about two hours, including seven short modules, interactive practice and a final assessment of 23 questions drawn from a larger bank. You need 80 percent to pass, and you can review the modules and retake the assessment. After passing you can download your certificate of completion.

Can I use the forms in this course instead of OSHA's forms?

The incident report form in this course is designed to capture the information OSHA's 301 asks for, and 1904.29 allows equivalent forms if they contain the same information, are as readable and understandable, and are completed using the same instructions. Check your form against the current OSHA 301 before you rely on it, and use OSHA's 300 and 300A formats for the log and summary.

This course is general education and training awareness on OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping from CE Courses Hub. It is not legal, medical or professional advice and does not replace your employer's policies, OSHA or State Plan requirements, or advice from a qualified professional. Completing it earns a certificate of completion for the stated contact hours; it is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or accreditor unless an approval is shown on the course page. Check with your board, employer or state agency whether this course meets your specific requirement.