Check Whether Recordkeeping Applies (29 CFR 1904.1)
osha_check_recordkeeping_obligationRun this first to determine if an employer must keep OSHA injury records—checks company size and industry exemptions to avoid unnecessary log entries.
Instructions
The threshold question every other Part 1904 determination assumes: is this employer required to keep OSHA injury and illness records at all? Run this FIRST for any small employer or any establishment that may be in a partially exempt industry — otherwise the chain will confidently instruct them to make 300-Log entries for a log they need not keep. Two things are commonly got backwards: the size exemption is measured across the ENTIRE COMPANY, not one establishment (1904.1(b)(1)), and it uses PEAK employment during the last calendar year, not an average or year-end figure (1904.1(b)(2)). A written request from OSHA or BLS under 1904.41/1904.42 defeats the exemption. CRITICALLY, the exemption is PARTIAL: 1904.39 severe-injury reporting binds every employer covered by the OSH Act regardless — an exempt employer still owes OSHA the 8-hour fatality call. Supply establishment_naics_code and the tool resolves the 1904.2 industry question itself against the closed Appendix A list, matching on the first four digits. Reference and triage only.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| establishment_naics_code | No | The establishment's NAICS code, 4 to 6 digits. Supply this and the tool looks it up against the closed Appendix A list itself — the match is on the first FOUR digits, since Appendix A lists industry groups. If you do not know the code, omit it and use establishment_in_partially_exempt_industry instead. | |
| notified_in_writing_to_keep_records | No | Has OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics informed the employer IN WRITING that it must keep records under 1904.41 or 1904.42? Appendix A extends this to a STATE AGENCY operating under the authority of OSHA or the BLS. Such a request defeats BOTH exemptions — 1904.1(a)(1) for size, 1904.2(a)(1) for industry. | |
| company_peak_employees_last_calendar_year | Yes | The PEAK number of employees across the ENTIRE COMPANY at any time during the last calendar year (1904.1(b)(1)-(b)(2)). Not an average, not a year-end headcount, and not a single establishment's count — if the company touched 11 employees for one week, it is over the threshold. | |
| establishment_in_partially_exempt_industry | No | Fallback for when the NAICS code is unknown: is this ESTABLISHMENT classified in a partially exempt industry under 1904.2? Ignored when establishment_naics_code is supplied, because the tool then determines it. Note this exemption attaches to the establishment, whereas the size exemption applies to the whole company. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| kind | Yes | ||
| value | Yes | ||
| cfr_cite | Yes | ||
| source_url | Yes | ||
| last_verified | Yes |