What the 300A is, by the rule
At the end of each calendar year, 1904.32(a) has you review the OSHA 300 log, create an annual summary, certify it and post it. The summary totals the log's columns, with zeros when you had no recordable cases, and adds the year, the company and establishment names and address, the annual average number of employees and the total hours worked by all employees covered by the log (1904.32(b)(2)).
A company executive certifies it: an owner (only in a sole proprietorship or partnership), an officer of the corporation, the highest-ranking company official at the establishment, or that person's immediate supervisor (1904.32(b)(4)). It is posted from February 1 to April 30 (1904.32(b)(6)), and the log, the summary and the 301 forms are kept for five years (1904.33(a)). For the posting and electronic submission deadlines, see our OSHA 300 log guide.
| 300A column | What it counts | Where prequal uses it |
|---|---|---|
| G | Deaths | Fatalities |
| H | Cases with days away from work | DART; lost-time rates on some forms |
| I | Cases with job transfer or restriction | DART |
| J | Other recordable cases | TRIR, with G, H and I |
| Hours worked | All employees covered by the log | Every rate |
The column letters and the rule for hours come from OSHA's forms package, which says to count hours for salaried, hourly, part-time, seasonal and temporary workers you supervise day to day, and to leave out vacation, sick leave, holidays and any other non-work time (OSHA forms package).
Why prequal forms ask for three years
The forms we read all ask for three. McGough's sample asks for 300 and 300A forms with a three-year history and says the 300A must be attached (mcgough.com). SOLV Energy asks for 300 and 300A forms for the prior three years (solvenergy.com). DPR counts the 300A among the minimum documents to submit (dpr.com). Highwire asks for the 300 log and a separate 300A for each of the last three years (help.highwire.com). Three years smooths out one bad year, and it matches the three-year window behind the EMR and Highwire's safety score.
When OSHA doesn't require your log
There are two partial exemptions. A company with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year doesn't have to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells it in writing (1904.1(a)(1)); the count is the whole company's peak employment during the year (1904.1(b)). And establishments in the industries listed in Appendix A to Subpart B, a list that includes many retail, finance, information and professional-service industries, are partially exempt (1904.2(a)(1)); construction is not on that list. Either way, every employer still reports a work-related fatality within 8 hours, and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours (1904.39(a)).
Prequal forms don't go by the exemption. Highwire says companies that don't keep logs because of their size must still upload 300 and 300A forms for its clients, and that without data the profile cannot be scored. DPR asks for your average employee count and total hours for the last three years when the 300A doesn't apply to your size. Howard University accepts other documentation with at least the same information as the 300 and 300A (ehs.howard.edu). So:
- Keep the log anyway. It costs nothing, and it gives you the document every form asks for.
- If you didn't keep it, rebuild each year. Work from your incident records, first-aid logs, workers' compensation claims and payroll: the cases, how each was classified, and the hours.
- Label it honestly. For example: "Prepared for prequalification. Company partially exempt from OSHA recordkeeping under 29 CFR 1904.1 for this year." Have the same company executive sign it.
- Give the same answer everywhere. The numbers on the platform, on every general contractor's form and on the summary should be identical.
Make the numbers match
- Hours: from payroll, all employees covered by the log, without vacation, sick leave, holidays or other non-work time, including temporary workers you supervise day to day.
- Cases: the 300A totals equal the recordable count on the form. TRIR uses columns G, H, I and J; DART uses H and I. See how to calculate TRIR and DART.
- Years: calendar years, the way the 300A covers them, not your fiscal year or your policy year.
- Establishments: if a form asks about the company, add up the establishments' summaries.
- One answer: the same numbers on ISNetworld, Avetta, Highwire and every general contractor's form. Reviewers compare.
Sharing the 300 log
Some forms ask for the 300 log as well as the summary. Before you give the log to anyone other than the government, your employees and their representatives, remove the employees' names and other personally identifying information (1904.29(b)(10)); the rule allows a few exceptions, such as an auditor or consultant you hire to evaluate your safety and health program. The 300A has no names on it.
Rather have the 29Safety safety team write it? The Bid and prequal packet, $795:
- Your company safety manual
- Up to 8 written programs from your GC's list
- A site-specific safety plan for one job
- English and Spanish, as separate copies
Written from the list your general contractor or platform gives you, filled in with your company. What passes is still the reviewer's decision. See what's in the Bid and prequal packet.
More on prequalification
- Written programs for ISNetworld, Avetta, Veriforce and GC prequalification
- ISNetworld RAVS written programs: what the review is and how to prepare
- Avetta safety manual audit: what it reviews and why documents come back
- Highwire safety assessment: the documents, the score and how to clear a discrepancy
- Subcontractor prequalification packet: what general contractors ask for
- EMR for prequalification: what the experience mod means and where the letter comes from
- TRIR and DART for prequalification: the formula and the mistakes reviewers catch
300A summaries that build themselves, three years at a time
In 29Safety, injuries and near misses go in from a phone in minutes, and your 300, 300A and 301 data build themselves, with TRIR and DART. The prequal packet holds the three calendar years most questionnaires ask for, each 300A signed by a company executive, with every rate printed next to its formula and the counts behind it, and employee names taken off the 300 logs before they go to a general contractor or an owner.
See exactly what you'd get
The JHA plus a toolbox talk record, an inspection and more, in one PDF: five documents for a jobsite crew, or three for a plant. No watermark.
Plans from $199 a month. No per-person fees. 14 days free.
Rather have us write it? Two written programs ($295)
Need the whole packet? Bid and prequal packet ($795)
Questions we get
We had no injuries. Do we still need a 300A?
If you are required to keep the log, yes: 1904.32(b)(2) says to enter zeros when there were no recordable cases, and the summary is still certified and posted. For prequalification, a signed 300A with zeros and your real hours is a strong document.
Who can sign the 300A?
A company executive: an owner of a sole proprietorship or partnership, an officer of the corporation, the highest-ranking company official at the establishment, or that person's immediate supervisor (1904.32(b)(4)). Someone who holds none of those positions doesn't meet the rule by signing alone.
We are exempt. What do we put on the form?
The numbers anyway. Highwire requires 300 and 300A forms even from companies that don't keep logs because of their size, DPR asks for average employees and hours, and Howard accepts equivalent documents. Keep the log voluntarily or rebuild it from your records, and say on it that it was prepared for prequalification.
Is the prequal 300A the same as the electronic submission to OSHA?
No. The electronic submission sends information from the 300A to OSHA, and only certain establishments have to make it (1904.41). A prequal form wants the signed summary itself. Our OSHA 300 log guide covers who submits and when.
Does 29Safety fill in our 300A?
29Safety builds your 300, 301 and 300A from the incidents you record, with TRIR and DART, and puts three years of 300A summaries, signed by a company executive, in the prequal packet. The executive still reviews and certifies each one.
Not sure how this applies to your work? in the chat, or email safetyteam@29safety.com.
Sources
Checked November 5, 2026. Platforms, owners and general contractors set their own requirements and change them; the list in your account or on your form is the one that counts.
- OSHA recordkeeping forms package (300, 300A, 301 and instructions), OSHA
- Sample prequalification application questionnaire (May 2025), McGough
- Prequalification application (December 2023), SOLV Energy
- Self-service questionnaire FAQs, DPR Construction
- Completing the Injury & Illness Section, Highwire help center
- Subcontractor health and safety questionnaire, Howard University
- 29 CFR sections linked in the text: eCFR, the official text