The facts
- A warehouse picker aggravates a shoulder. Their routine job involves lifting cartons up to 40 lb, several times an hour.
- The physician restricts them to lifting nothing over 10 lb for two weeks. The employer moves them to a packing bench.
- The only treatment is an over-the-counter painkiller at a normal dose.
The determination
Recordable
Recordable — the case meets the 1904.7(a) criterion: Restricted work or transfer to another job.
Criteria met
- • Restricted work or transfer to another job
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 — Restricted work or transfer to another job.
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.
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
Restricted work is a recording criterion in its own right. There is no need for any medical treatment at all — and here the only treatment given is squarely on the first-aid list, yet the case is still recordable.
Restriction means being kept from one or more of the routine functions of the job, or from working a full shift. Routine functions are the activities the employee regularly performs at least once a week, which is why a 10 lb limit matters for a picker and might not for a dispatcher.
Two practical traps. A vague note like "light duty" is not enough on its own — you have to establish whether the employee was actually kept from a routine function. And a restriction that applies only to the day of the injury is not recorded.
The provisions this turns on
In the regulation's own words
(i) How do I decide if the injury or illness resulted in restricted work? Restricted work occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness:
(A) You keep the employee from performing one or more of the routine functions of his or her job, or from working the full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to work; or
Change one fact
If the restriction had lasted only the day of the injury
A restriction confined to the day the injury occurred is not recorded. Everything else about the case is identical, and the only treatment is first aid.
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 — the only treatment provided appears on the exhaustive first-aid list.
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)(iii)(iii) Are any other procedures included in first aid? No, this is a complete list of all treatments considered first aid for part 1904 purposes.
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.