OSHA 300 log requirements: who keeps the records and for how long

Keep the OSHA 300 Log, the privacy case list, the 300A annual summary and the 301 incident reports for 5 years after the end of the calendar year they cover. Update the stored Log during that time. A separate OSHA rule keeps some exposure and medical records for 30 years or more.

OSHA record retention rests on those two rules. The 30-year rule is narrow: it covers employees exposed to toxic substances or harmful physical agents. It does not cover every employee file. As of November 2026, each row below was checked on 2026-11-03.

OSHA 300 log requirements: who keeps the records

Size and industry each give a partial exemption. Size is counted for the whole company. A company that had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year does not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records, unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tells it in writing to keep them. The test uses peak employment in that year (29 CFR 1904.1).

Industry is counted for each establishment. An establishment in an industry listed in appendix A to subpart B of Part 1904 does not need to keep the records unless the government asks it to. One company can have some establishments that keep records and some that do not (29 CFR 1904.2).

Both exemptions leave one duty in place. Every employer covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act must report a work-related death to OSHA within 8 hours. It must report a work-related in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours (29 CFR 1904.1 and 1904.39).

How long to keep the OSHA 300 Log and related records

Example: the records for calendar year 2026 are kept through 2031-12-31.

During the 5 years, update your stored 300 Logs for newly discovered recordable injuries or illnesses and for changes in how a case was classified. If the description or outcome of a case changes, remove or line out the original entry and enter the new information (29 CFR 1904.33(b)(1)). You do not have to update the annual summary or the 301 reports, but you may (29 CFR 1904.33(b)(2) and (b)(3)).

The OSHA forms

OSHA names the forms in 29 CFR 1904.29. You may use equivalent forms. You may keep the records on a computer if it can produce equivalent forms when they are needed.

OSHA offers fillable versions on its recordkeeping forms page. This site does not host or copy the forms.

The annual summary and its posting

At the end of each calendar year, review the Log, create the 300A summary from it, have a company executive certify it, and post it (29 CFR 1904.32). Post a copy in each establishment, in a conspicuous place where notices to employees are customarily posted. Post it no later than February 1 of the year after the year it covers, and keep it up until April 30.

Electronic submission to OSHA

Some establishments also send data to OSHA each year under 29 CFR 1904.41. The deadline is March 2 of the year after the calendar year the forms cover. The rule has three tiers:

• An establishment with 20 to 249 employees at any time in the previous calendar year, in an industry listed in appendix A to subpart E, submits information from the 300A.
• An establishment with 250 or more employees that Part 1904 requires to keep records submits information from the 300A.
• An establishment with 100 or more employees in an industry listed in appendix B to subpart E submits information from Forms 300 and 301.

On notification, any establishment must submit the information OSHA requests from its Part 1904 records. Check the appendices to subpart E to see whether your industry is listed.

What employee records must be kept for 30 years

Scope comes first. 29 CFR 1910.1020 applies to employee exposure records and medical records, and analyses of them, for employees exposed to toxic substances or harmful physical agents. It reaches general industry, maritime and construction employers. Read its scope in paragraph (b) before you apply these rows to your workforce.

Example: an exposed employee leaves on 2026-09-30. The medical record is kept at least until 2056-09-30.

The rule does not say when the 30 years start for SF-03 and SF-04. Counting from the latest date on the record is our recommendation. OSHA does not say so. A specific OSHA standard can set a different period.

The rule lists exceptions:

• Medical records. Health insurance claims records kept apart from the employer’s medical program need no set period. Neither do first aid records of one-time treatment of minor scratches, cuts, burns, splinters and the like, if the case involved no medical treatment, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to another job, a non-physician treated it on-site, and the records are kept apart. The records of an employee with under 1 year of service need not be kept past the term of employment if they are given to the employee at termination.
• Exposure records. Background data to workplace monitoring, such as laboratory reports and worksheets, may be kept 1 year if the sampling results, the sampling plan, the analytical and mathematical methods, and a summary of other relevant background data are kept at least 30 years. Material safety data sheets and records of a substance’s identity need no set period if a record of the substance’s identity, where it was used and when is kept at least 30 years. Biological monitoring results that a specific standard designates as exposure records follow that standard.

The rule requires no particular form for a record, as long as the information is preserved and retrievable. Chest X-ray films are the exception: they are preserved in their original state (29 CFR 1910.1020(d)(2)).

What this page does not cover

This page covers US federal rules only and gives no state periods. We found no general federal period for OSHA training records, so we give none. Check the OSHA standard that requires the training.

Next steps

Add the rows that apply to your schedule. The employee records guide covers personnel, FMLA and benefit plan periods, and the business records guide shows how the groups fit together. The record retention schedule generator builds a schedule from your answers, and the document retention policy guide shows how to write it down.