Which OSHA 300 Log Gets the Jobsite Injury?

Tuesday, a framer from your west branch crew cut his hand on a six-month apartment job across town. The superintendent wants to know which Log to put it on: the jobsite's, the west branch's, or the one at headquarters where the recordkeeper sits. OSHA answers it in two steps, and the order matters. First, which employer records the case. Then, which of that employer's establishments it belongs to.

A jobsite injury takes two decisions: which employer records it, under 29 CFR 1904.31, and which establishment's Log receives it, under 1904.30. For construction, the establishment is the office that supervises the work or the crews' base (1904.46). Jobsites lasting less than a year can share a Log; headquarters can store Logs without merging them.

At a glance: Step 1, the employer: whoever supervises the worker day to day records the case (1904.31(b)(3)); coordinate so it's recorded once ((b)(4)). Step 2, the establishment: in construction, the supervising office or base (1904.46). One Log per establishment expected to run a year or more (1904.30(a)). Short-term sites can share a Log, by division or region ((b)(1)). Visiting another of your establishments: that establishment's Log ((b)(4)). Headquarters may store the Logs ((b)(2)).

Step one: which employer records it

29 CFR 1904.31(a) covers employees on your payroll and other workers you supervise on a day-to-day basis. On a jobsite with several employers, that second part decides most cases.

Under 1904.31(b)(3), when a contractor's employee is under the contractor's day-to-day supervision, the contractor records the injury. When you supervise the contractor's employee day to day, you record it. Owning the property or writing the site safety rules doesn't make you the supervisor. Directing the work does.

Under 1904.31(b)(4), the host and the contractor, temp agency or leasing company coordinate so each case is recorded once. Both companies can keep their own incident file. Only one puts it on an OSHA 300 Log. The temporary and leased workers guide goes through the supervision test.

Step two: which establishment

29 CFR 1904.46 defines an establishment as a single physical location where business is conducted. For activities where employees don't work at a single location, construction among them, the establishment is the main or branch office that supervises the work or the base from which the crews carry it out.

Under 1904.30(a), each establishment expected to operate one year or longer keeps its own OSHA 300 Log. A jobsite expected to run two years, with a site office running it, can be an establishment of its own. A six-month job usually isn't.

Short-term jobsites can share a Log

29 CFR 1904.30(b)(1) answers the question it asks: "Do I need to keep OSHA injury and illness records for short-term establishments (i.e., establishments that will exist for less than a year)? Yes, however, you do not have to keep a separate OSHA 300 Log for each such establishment." One Log can cover all your short-term establishments, or you can keep one per company division or geographic region.

That's a choice about how many Logs, not about whether to record. The framer's cut goes on a Log within seven calendar days of learning it's recordable, under 1904.29(b)(3), on whichever Log covers that short-term site.

Employees who move around

Under 1904.30(b)(3), each employee is linked to one of your establishments for recordkeeping, including employees who work at several locations or none of yours. Their cases go on that establishment's Log, or on the Log covering their short-term establishment.

The visiting rule in (b)(4) comes first when it applies. The west branch framer injured at the east branch's yard goes on the east branch's Log, even though payroll says west. Keep where it happened as a fact about the case: the location belongs in the 300 Log's "where the event occurred" column whatever Log the case is on.

Headquarters can hold the Logs

29 CFR 1904.30(b)(2) lets you keep an establishment's records at headquarters or another central location if you can get the information there within seven calendar days of learning of a recordable case, and send the records back within the time limits of 1904.35 and 1904.40 when an employee, a representative or OSHA asks.

Storage at headquarters doesn't merge the Logs. A company-wide incident report is useful management information. It isn't the Log an inspector asks for at the east branch.

How HazComFast keeps one Log per establishment

Each establishment keeps its own 300 Log and 300A. HazComFast tells you which sites file with OSHA's Injury Tracking Application, and builds the CSV files from your certified 300A, checked before you upload.

You set up your establishments in Settings, with the definition of 1904.46 on the screen, and a case can't be recorded until there is one. A jobsite expected to run long enough can be marked as an establishment of its own. The 300 Log opens on one establishment at a time; the view of all establishments together is labeled as an internal roll-up.

When a case turns out to belong to another establishment's Log, it moves with "Move to another establishment", which only an administrator can do, with a reason that stays on the record. Each 300A is generated for one establishment, and a summary can't be generated for an establishment that's closed. Each employee also has a usual establishment, so the recordkeeper starts from the right Log when a report comes in from the field.

Before you give your Log to a general contractor, read what to send the GC. Before the executive signs, the 300A review covers what to check, establishment by establishment.

Related: Who submits to OSHA's ITA in 2026 · The OSHA 300 Log guide · Temporary and leased workers

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Sources & verification (read on the eCFR, edition of 2026-10-01): 29 CFR 1904.29(b)(3); 1904.30(a), (b)(1) to (b)(4); 1904.31(a), (b)(3), (b)(4); 1904.35; 1904.40; 1904.46. General guidance, not legal advice.*