Form 300: the log
The Form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses is a running, establishment-level register with one line per recordable case: who, what happened, where it happened, and the outcome classification (death, days away, restricted duty or transfer, or other recordable case) with day counts.
Each case must be entered within 7 calendar days of the employer learning that a recordable injury or illness occurred. The log also carries privacy protections: for "privacy concern cases" (such as certain injuries to intimate body parts, sexual assaults, mental illnesses, and needlestick injuries), the employee's name is withheld from the log and kept on a separate confidential list.
Form 301: the incident report
The Form 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report is the narrative record — one per recordable case, also due within 7 calendar days. It captures how the incident occurred: what the employee was doing, what object or substance harmed them, and the treatment received.
29 CFR 1904.29 allows an equivalent form in place of the official 301, as long as it contains the same information. Many employers use a workers' compensation first report of injury as the equivalent — which works only if that form actually captures every 301 data field for the jurisdiction in question, so the equivalence is worth verifying rather than assuming.
Form 300A: the annual summary
The Form 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses totals the year's log — case counts by classification, injury and illness types, plus average employment and total hours worked for rate calculations.
Two rules give the 300A teeth. First, a company executive must certify that they have examined the log and reasonably believe the summary is accurate and complete — certification is personal, not clerical. Second, the summary must be posted from February 1 to April 30 in each establishment where employee notices are customarily posted, even in a year with zero recordable cases.
Deadlines side by side
The full annual rhythm for a covered establishment:
- Form 300 and 301 — within 7 calendar days of learning about each recordable case.
- Form 300A — compiled after year end, executive-certified, posted February 1 through April 30.
- Electronic submission — establishments covered by 29 CFR 1904.41 submit to the Injury Tracking Application by March 2.
- Retention — all three records kept for 5 years after the year they cover; the 300 log stays updated during that window.
Where teams go wrong
The recurring failure modes are mundane: cases recorded months late because the incident report never reached whoever owns the log; day counts that stop being updated when an employee's restriction drags on; a 300A signed by whoever was available rather than a company executive; and first-report forms assumed to be 301-equivalent when they are missing fields.
Each is an artifact-quality problem before it is a compliance problem — which is why a single incident record that feeds the log, the incident report, and the annual summary beats three separately maintained documents.
Frequently asked questions
One incident record, three artifacts
Capture the facts once and SafeGora keeps the log, incident report, and annual summary aligned — with the executive certification and posting window tracked, never auto-filed.