The facts
- A delivery driver strains their back lifting a heavy carton.
- A physician writes a prescription for a muscle relaxant.
- The employee decides not to fill it, takes a day of their own to rest by choice, and works normally afterwards with no restriction imposed.
The determination
Recordable
Recordable — the case meets the 1904.7(a) criterion: Medical treatment beyond first aid.
Criteria met
- • Medical treatment beyond first aid
Decision trail
- 01
Did an event or exposure in the work environment cause or contribute to the case?
Yes — presumed work-related, subject to the 1904.5(b)(2) exceptions.
29 CFR § 1904.5(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be 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) specifically applies.
- 02
Is this a new case?
Yes.
29 CFR § 1904.6(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be a “new case” if:
- 03
Is this a musculoskeletal disorder?
Yes — but Part 1904 has no separate MSD provision, so it is recorded only if it meets the general 1904.7 criteria, like any other case.
29 CFR § 1904.7(a)(a) Basic requirement. 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, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
- 04
Does the case meet one or more of the general recording criteria in 1904.7(a)?
Yes — Medical treatment beyond first aid.
29 CFR § 1904.7(a)(a) Basic requirement. 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, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
29 CFR § 1904.7(b)(5)Not on the exhaustive first-aid list. Only NON-prescription medication at non-prescription strength is first aid — 1904.7(b)(5)(ii)(A).
Also note
- • Record this MSD like any other case that meets the 1904.7 criteria. Part 1904 has no separate musculoskeletal-disorder provision or 300-Log column — classify the case by the injury or illness type on the form as you would for any other recordable case.
Computed at build time by Job13’s engine from the facts above — not written by hand. Change the facts and re-run it yourself →
What is actually going on here — Job13's explanation
A prescription issued for therapeutic purposes is medical treatment, so the case is recordable. Crucially it is the recommendation that triggers recording, not the swallowing: the regulation addresses the case where an employee declines the treatment their physician recommended, and it is still recordable.
There is one important exception in the other direction. Prescription medication administered solely for diagnostic purposes — a contrast agent, a dilating drop — is not medical treatment at all.
Being a musculoskeletal disorder changes nothing about whether this is recorded. MSDs are recorded on the ordinary 1904.7 criteria like any other case; the MSD column on the 300 Log is a classification, not a separate test.
The provisions this turns on
In the regulation's own words
(v) What if a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends medical treatment but the employee does not follow the recommendation? 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's recommendation.
(B) The conduct of diagnostic procedures, such as x-rays and blood tests, including the administration of prescription medications used solely for diagnostic purposes ( e.g., eye drops to dilate pupils); or
Change one fact
If the physician had only taken an X-ray and advised rest
Diagnostic procedures and visits for observation or counselling are not medical treatment at all, so an identical injury worked up but not treated stays off the log.
The determination on those facts instead
Not recordable
Work-related, but it meets none of the 1904.7(a) recording criteria, so it is not recordable.
Decision trail
- 01
Did an event or exposure in the work environment cause or contribute to the case?
Yes — presumed work-related, subject to the 1904.5(b)(2) exceptions.
29 CFR § 1904.5(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be 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) specifically applies.
- 02
Is this a new case?
Yes.
29 CFR § 1904.6(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be a “new case” if:
- 03
Is this a musculoskeletal disorder?
Yes — but Part 1904 has no separate MSD provision, so it is recorded only if it meets the general 1904.7 criteria, like any other case.
29 CFR § 1904.7(a)(a) Basic requirement. 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, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
- 04
Does the case meet one or more of the general recording criteria in 1904.7(a)?
No — none of the 1904.7(a) criteria are met.
29 CFR § 1904.7(a)(a) Basic requirement. 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, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
Your case is not this case
Scenarios are worked examples on stated facts. Small differences — who recommended the treatment, whether participation was voluntary, what the employee’s routine functions actually are — change the answer. Run your own facts, and the determination will show you which step decided it.
Check your case — freeNot legal advice. This page republishes 29 CFR Part 1904 as published by the eCFR and explains it. The recordkeeping duty is the employer’s. Where the rule requires judgement, Job13 says so rather than guessing — run your own case through the free check.