Recordable means it goes on the 300 log. Reportable means you must phone OSHA — fast. Here are the exact 29 CFR 1904 criteria, the first-aid exemptions, the 8-hour and 24-hour rules, and a decision tree you can follow at the time of injury.
Two of the most confused words in U.S. workplace safety are recordable and reportable. They sound interchangeable, but under OSHA's recordkeeping rule (29 CFR Part 1904) they trigger completely different duties. Get them mixed up and you either over-report cases that never needed a phone call, or — far worse — miss a mandatory notification and face a citation. This guide draws the line clearly, walks the recording criteria step by step, lists the first-aid treatments that are not recordable, and gives you a decision tree to use the moment an injury happens.
Recordable = the case is written on your internal injury log (the OSHA 300). Reportable = you must directly contact OSHA, by phone or online, within a strict deadline. Think of it as inside vs outside: recordable stays in your records; reportable goes out the door to the agency. Crucially, every reportable event is also recordable, but most recordable cases are never reportable. A reportable fatality, hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss is a small, severe subset of the much larger universe of recordable cases.
Under 29 CFR 1904.4, a case must be recorded when it satisfies three tests at once:
The general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7 are the heart of the rule. A work-related, new case is recordable if it results in any one of:
There are also specific recording criteria for certain conditions: any work-related needlestick or sharps injury contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material; medical removal under an OSHA standard; tuberculosis infection confirmed by a positive test after known exposure; and a standard-threshold shift plus a 25-dB hearing level for occupational hearing loss.
Most borderline calls come down to this single criterion. OSHA defines medical treatment as the management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder — but it then carves out a closed, exhaustive list of first aid. Treatment that goes beyond that list is recordable; treatment limited to the list is not. The first-aid list lives in 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)(ii).
If the only treatment a worker receives is on this list, the case is not recordable on the medical-treatment criterion (it could still be recordable for another reason, such as days away). OSHA's first-aid list is exclusive — if a treatment is not on it, it counts as medical treatment:
A useful tripwire: sutures, prescription medication, physical therapy, and rigid casts are always medical treatment — they are not on the list. So are diagnostic procedures only when they lead to one of these. Note that purely diagnostic activity (X-rays, MRIs, observation) is not, on its own, treatment.
Reporting is governed by 29 CFR 1904.39. Regardless of whether the case is recordable, you must directly notify OSHA of these severe outcomes, within these deadlines, measured from when you learn of the event:
| Event | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Work-related fatality | 8 hours | 1904.39(a)(1) |
| In-patient hospitalization of one or more employees | 24 hours | 1904.39(a)(2) |
| Amputation | 24 hours | 1904.39(a)(2) |
| Loss of an eye | 24 hours | 1904.39(a)(2) |
Three timing nuances trip people up. First, a fatality is reportable only if it occurs within 30 days of the work-related incident; an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss is reportable only if it occurs within 24 hours of the incident. Second, the clock starts when the employer learns the event meets the reporting threshold — not necessarily at the moment of injury. Third, in-patient hospitalization means a formal admission for care or treatment; an emergency-room visit for observation or diagnostic testing that does not result in admission is not reportable.
You report by calling the nearest OSHA Area Office during business hours, calling the 24-hour hotline at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), or using the online reporting form at osha.gov. Be ready with your business name, the time and location, a brief description, and a contact.
Work through this in order the moment an injury or illness is reported:
In short: reportable is a fast outbound phone call for the four severe events; recordable is an inbound bookkeeping entry for any case that clears the 1904.7 criteria.
Recordable cases feed OSHA's three recordkeeping forms. Knowing which is which keeps your program audit-ready:
| Form | Name | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| OSHA 300 | Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses | A running line-by-line log; each recordable case is one row, classified as death, DAFW, restricted/transfer, or other recordable. |
| OSHA 301 | Injury and Illness Incident Report | The detailed record for each individual case; must be completed within 7 calendar days. An equivalent form (e.g. a workers' comp first report) may be used. |
| OSHA 300A | Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses | Year-end totals; must be posted from Feb 1 to Apr 30 and certified by a company executive. |
Establishments meeting the size and industry thresholds must also electronically submit 300A data (and, for the largest high-hazard establishments, 300 and 301 data) through OSHA's Injury Tracking Application by March 2 each year. Remember the exemptions: employers with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the year, and establishments in certain partially exempt low-hazard industries (Appendix A to Subpart B), are not required to keep the 300/301 routinely — but they must still report fatalities and severe injuries under 1904.39, and must record if OSHA or the BLS asks them to.
Recordable cases are the raw material of your injury rates. Your Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and DART rate are built directly from the 300 log, so a single mis-classified first-aid case can move the metric an insurer, prime contractor, or board will scrutinize. Over-recording inflates your TRIR and can cost you bids; under-recording is a recordkeeping violation. Getting the recordable/reportable line right is not paperwork pedantry — it is the integrity of every safety KPI you report.
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What makes an injury OSHA recordable?
Under 29 CFR 1904, a case is recordable when it is work-related, is a new case, and meets at least one general recording criterion: death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a PLHCP.
What is the difference between recordable and reportable?
Recordable means the case goes on your OSHA 300 log; reportable means you must directly notify OSHA. All reportable events are also recordable, but most recordable cases are not reportable.
How quickly must I report a fatality or hospitalization to OSHA?
Under 29 CFR 1904.39: a work-related fatality within 8 hours, and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours of learning of it.
Is first aid recordable?
No. Treatment limited to the specific first-aid list in 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) — OTC-dosage medication, cleaning or bandaging surface wounds, hot/cold therapy, finger or rib splints for transport, and so on — is not, by itself, recordable.
Does a recordable injury automatically raise an OSHA penalty?
No. Recording a case is a bookkeeping duty, not an admission of a violation. Penalties arise from violations of a specific standard or the General Duty Clause, not from the act of recording on the 300 log.
This guide summarizes 29 CFR Part 1904 (notably 1904.7 and 1904.39) for general educational purposes and is not legal advice. Always check the current regulation text on osha.gov and consult a competent person for specific cases.