A decision tool for 29 CFR 1904. Answer the questions below and get a call you can defend to an inspector — with the citation behind each reason, whether it is a privacy-concern case, and what has to go on the 300 and 301. Nothing is uploaded; no account, no logs.
1. Did the event or exposure happen in the work environment — or did work activity significantly aggravate a pre-existing condition?
29 CFR 1904.5(a). If it did not occur in the work environment and was not significantly aggravated by work, stop here: not work-related.
2. Does one of the 1904.5(b)(2) exceptions apply?
These are explicitly not work-related even if they happen at work.
3. What was the outcome? Tick everything that applies.
29 CFR 1904.7(a) general recording criteria, plus the special rules in 1904.8–1904.11.
4. Is it a privacy-concern case?
1904.29(b)(7) — you still record it, but you do not put the name on the 300 (enter "privacy case" and keep a separate confidential list).
Answer question 1 to begin
The call appears here as you answer.
What "first aid only" means — the list that keeps cases off the log
29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) defines first aid as any one-time, non-prescription treatment of a minor injury, including:
First aid (not recordable on its own)
Medical treatment (recordable)
Non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength; tetanus shot; cleaning, flushing or soaking minor wounds; butterfly bandages or Steri-Strips; hot or cold therapy; non-rigid supports; temporary immobilisation; drilling a fingernail or draining a blister; eye patches; removing a foreign body from the eye with irrigation or a cotton swab; removing splinters with tweezers; finger guards; massage; drinking fluids for heat stress
Prescription medication, stitches or surgical glue, wound closure, physical therapy, breathing treatments, casting, surgery, chiropractic adjustment, IV fluids, and any treatment a physician directs beyond the first-aid list
The trap most people miss: "medical treatment beyond first aid" is the criterion, not "the person saw a doctor". A visit that ends with an ice pack and a bandage is still first aid; a visit that ends with a prescription is recordable even if the employee returns to work the same hour.
Special rules that override the general criteria
Needlestick and sharps (1904.8) — recordable when the employee is exposed to blood or other potentially infectious material, even without a visible injury.
Hearing loss (1904.10) — recordable when a standard threshold shift has occurred; an annual audiogram does not have to cross 25 dB at 2000/3000/4000 Hz if a shift is confirmed on retest.
Tuberculosis (1904.11) — recordable when a work exposure leads to TB infection (positive skin test or IGRA), even if no active disease.
Musculoskeletal disorders — the 2001 ergonomics rule was withdrawn; MSDs are recorded under the 1904.7 general criteria like any other injury.
300 log — one line per case: employee (or "privacy case"), date, where it happened, description, class (death / days away / restricted / other recordable).
301 incident report — the detail behind that line: what happened, the injury, the object or substance, and the treatment. A worker's compensation form can replace it if it has the same information.
Deadlines — 1904.29(b)(3): enter the case within seven calendar days of learning about it. Fatalities must also be reported to OSHA within 8 hours (1904.39), hospitalisations, amputations and eye loss within 24 hours.
Not legal advice. Federal OSHA rules are described here; roughly half the states run OSHA-approved State Plans that must be at least as effective but may differ in detail, coverage and deadlines. For a specific case, the determination belongs to the employer with the regulation in hand — or to the inspector.