Is a Laceration Requiring Stitches Recordable?
A work-related laceration closed with sutures, staples, or surgical glue is recordable on the OSHA 300 Log. The closure method — not the wound size, body part, or stitch count — drives the determination.
The Scenario
An employee working on the shop floor is opening a package with a box cutter when the blade slips, cutting their left thumb. They wash the cut, wrap it in gauze, and finish the morning's tasks. By lunch the bleeding hasn't fully stopped, so they go to urgent care. The PA on duty applies three stitches and sends them back to work the same afternoon with no restrictions.
The employee returns to full duty the following morning. No days are missed. No prescription medications are issued. No follow-up care is required beyond standard suture removal in a week.
The Reasoning
Three independent questions decide recordability:
- Was the injury work-related? Yes. The injury occurred during work activity in the work environment. None of the nine exceptions in [1904.5(b)(2)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.5) apply.
- Did the case involve medical treatment beyond first aid? Yes. Sutures are not on the first aid list at [1904.7(b)(5)(ii)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.7). The list is exhaustive — anything not on it is medical treatment by definition per [1904.7(b)(5)(iii)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.7).
- Were any other recording criteria met? Not separately required — medical treatment alone makes the case recordable. (For reference: no death, no days away, no restricted work, no loss of consciousness, no significant diagnosis.)
The case is recordable on the basis of medical treatment alone.
Edge Cases
Several variations flip the determination:
- Butterfly bandages or Steri-Strips alone — first aid only. Not recordable. - PLHCP recommends sutures, employee declines — still recordable. The recommendation is the trigger, not the procedure. - Initial first aid, later infection requiring prescription antibiotics — becomes recordable when prescription medication is administered. - Tetanus shot only, no sutures — first aid. Tetanus immunization is explicitly listed at [1904.7(b)(5)(ii)(B)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.7). - Injury during commute or voluntary recreation — not work-related under [1904.5(b)(2)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.5). Not recordable.
Reporting & Timeline
This case is recordable on your internal OSHA 300 Log. It does not require direct reporting to OSHA — that requirement applies only to fatalities (8-hour notification) and severe injuries: in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye (24-hour notification). A laceration with sutures stays on the internal log.
Document the case within seven calendar days of the injury per [1904.29(b)(3)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.29).
Conclusion
A work-related laceration closed with sutures, staples, or surgical glue is recordable. The case stays on your OSHA 300 Log with no separate OSHA notification required. Document the date of injury (not the date of treatment) and record using the standard injury type.
For wounds closed with butterfly bandages, Steri-Strips, or adhesive coverings — first aid only, not recordable on treatment grounds alone.
Citations Referenced
The OSHA regulations this determination relies on. Linked to the official text on osha.gov.
Determination of work-relatedness
An injury or illness is work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception in 1904.5(b)(2) applies.
Definition of work environment
The work environment is the establishment and other locations where one or more employees are working or are present as a condition of their employment. The work environment includes the locations themselves, as well as the equipment or materials used by the employee during the course of his or her work.
Exceptions to work-relatedness presumption
Lists nine specific exceptions where an injury or illness occurring in the work environment is NOT considered work-related: (i) employee present as member of general public; (ii) symptoms appearing at work but solely from non-work event; (iii) voluntary participation in wellness, medical, fitness, or recreational activity off-the-clock; (iv) eating, drinking, or preparing food for personal consumption; (v) personal tasks outside of working hours; (vi) personal grooming, self-medication for non-work condition, or intentionally self-inflicted; (vii) motor vehicle accident on company parking lot or access road during commute; (viii) common cold or flu; (ix) mental illness without PLHCP diagnosis as work-related.
General recording criteria
You must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recording criteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional.
Definition of medical treatment
Medical treatment means the management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder. For the purposes of Part 1904, medical treatment does not include: visits to a physician or other licensed health care professional solely for observation or counseling; diagnostic procedures, including the administration of prescription medications used solely for diagnostic purposes (e.g., eye drops to dilate pupils); or any procedure listed as first aid in 1904.7(b)(5)(ii).
First aid (parent section)
For the purposes of Part 1904, first aid means: (A) using non-prescription medications at non-prescription strength; (B) administering tetanus immunizations; (C) cleaning, flushing, or soaking surface wounds; (D) using wound coverings such as bandages, gauze pads, or butterfly bandages or Steri-Strips; (E) using hot or cold therapy; (F) using non-rigid means of support; (G) temporary immobilization while transporting an accident victim; (H) drilling a fingernail or toenail to relieve pressure, or draining fluid from a blister; (I) using eye patches; (J) removing foreign bodies from the eye using only irrigation or a cotton swab; (K) removing splinters or foreign material from areas other than the eye by simple means; (L) using finger guards; (M) using massages; or drinking fluids for relief of heat stress.
First aid list is comprehensive
The list of first aid treatments in 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) is a complete list of all treatments considered first aid for Part 1904 purposes. Any treatment not included on the list is not considered first aid for OSHA recordkeeping purposes and is therefore considered medical treatment beyond first aid.
Professional status of treatment provider
OSHA considers the treatments listed in 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) to be first aid regardless of the professional status of the person providing the treatment. Even when these treatments are provided by a physician or other licensed health care professional, they are considered first aid. Similarly, OSHA considers treatment beyond first aid to be medical treatment even when it is provided by someone other than a physician or other licensed health care professional.
Employee declines recommended treatment
If a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends medical treatment, you should encourage the injured or ill employee to follow that recommendation. However, you must record the case even if the injured or ill employee does not follow the physician or other licensed health care professional recommendation.
Forms — recording deadlines and form requirements
You must use OSHA 300, 300A, and 301 forms (or equivalent forms) to record work-related injuries and illnesses. You must enter each recordable injury or illness on the OSHA 300 Log and 301 Incident Report within seven (7) calendar days of receiving information that a recordable injury or illness has occurred. Privacy concern cases require entering "privacy case" instead of the employee name on the OSHA 300 Log.
Letters of Interpretation
Official OSHA clarifications applied to this scenario.
Non-prescription strength vs. prescription strength medications
OSHA Letter of Interpretation · January 1, 2003
Medications available in both prescription and non-prescription form are treated based on the strength used. A PLHCP recommendation to use the non-prescription medication at prescription strength (e.g., ibuprofen 800mg) constitutes medical treatment beyond first aid.