OSHA recordkeeping citations rarely involve dangerous workplaces — they involve confused paperwork. The incident that never hit the log because the comp claim was denied. The 'light duty' arrangement nobody recorded as restricted work. The day count that skipped weekends. Each is an easy citation during any inspection, and inspectors check the log first.
This checklist runs every incident through the three recordability gates — work-related, new case, recording criteria — with OSHA's exhaustive first-aid list to settle the treatment question, calendar-day counting rules, the 7-day log entry deadline, severe injury reporting windows, and the annual 300A cycle from verification to executive certification to the February 1 posting.
Who should use this compliance checklist
- Safety coordinators and office managers who own the OSHA log
- Employers who just had an injury and aren't sure it's recordable
- Operations leaders using informal light duty
- Companies approaching the electronic submission thresholds
What it helps prevent
- Unrecorded recordables discovered during an OSHA inspection
- Confusing workers' comp compensability with OSHA recordability
- Day counts that stop and start with the schedule instead of the calendar
- Missed 300A posting and electronic submission deadlines
- Citations that turn a safe workplace into a cited one over paperwork
What’s inside
- Part 1 — Incident Facts
- Part 2 — Recordability Decision Gates
- Part 2a — First Aid vs. Medical Treatment
- Part 3 — Days Away / Restricted Duty Count
- Part 4 — Log Entry Status
- Part 5 — Annual Readiness
Before you process payroll, terminate, classify, deduct, or respond to a claim, get the decision reviewed.
Faulkner HR Solutions helps Texas employers, nonprofits, municipalities, and growing businesses fix the people systems behind recurring workplace problems. If this resource raised a risk flag, do not guess your way through the next step.