Recording Leased and Temp Labor on the OSHA 300 Log
Trade contractors regularly rely on supplemental crews, temporary staffing services, and employee leasing companies to meet project schedules. When a recordable injury occurs on the jobsite, questions immediately arise regarding who must enter the event on an OSHA 300 Log. Regulatory responsibility does not depend on payroll checks alone. Under federal rules, recordkeeping duties turn on operational control and supervision.
The Jobsite Scenario: Supplemental Framing Labor
To examine how these rules function in practice, consider a hypothetical scenario involving an interior framing and drywall subcontractor. Facing tight deadlines on a commercial buildout, the subcontractor secures supplemental workers from a temporary help service and an employee leasing service. These workers arrive at the project gate, join the interior framing crew, and take direction from the subcontractor's field foreman.
During material handling, one of the leased workers sustains a work-related injury that meets OSHA recordability criteria. The leasing agency issues the worker's paychecks and handles standard tax withholdings, while the trade subcontractor directs the worker's daily assignments, enforces site safety protocols, and monitors production. Both the subcontractor and the staffing agency must quickly determine which firm is legally obligated to log the recordable injury.
Step 1: Identifying the Day-to-Day Supervision Standard
The decisive factor in logging injuries for non-payroll labor is operational oversight. Under 29 CFR 1904.31, employers must record on their OSHA 300 Log the recordable injuries and illnesses of all employees on their payroll. However, the rule explicitly extends beyond traditional payroll arrangements: employers must also record injuries and illnesses sustained by individuals who are not on their payroll if the host employer supervises those workers on a day-to-day basis.
In our scenario, the trade subcontractor directs the leased worker throughout the workday. Because the subcontractor provides day-to-day supervision over the work being performed, the subcontractor holds the recording responsibility. Even though the temporary help service cut the paycheck, the host subcontractor must enter the injury onto its own OSHA 300 Log. For broader recordkeeping context across your projects, review our guide to OSHA 300 Log Recordkeeping: Quick Guide for Contractors.
Step 2: Evaluating Payroll Classification and Contractor Employees
The regulation covers a wide spectrum of employment arrangements. On direct payroll, an employer must record qualifying events for all staff members, including:
- Labor and hourly workers
- Executive and salary personnel
- Part-time crew members
- Seasonal and migrant workers
When dealing with outside personnel, the same supervision standard applies to contractor employees working within an establishment. Under 29 CFR 1904.31(b)(3), if a contractor's employee is under the day-to-day supervision of that contractor, the contractor is responsible for recording the injury or illness. Conversely, if the host employer supervises the contractor employee's work on a day-to-day basis, the host employer must record the event. To evaluate how these worker classifications affect other operational and legal responsibilities, see our analysis on Subcontractor vs. Employee: When Is a Sub Actually on Payroll?.
Step 3: Coordinating to Prevent Double Logging
A frequent error on multi-employer jobsites is duplicate entry, where both the staffing provider and the site subcontractor log the same incident. OSHA rules expressly prohibit this outcome. Under § 1904.31(b)(4), personnel supply services, temporary help services, employee leasing services, and host contractors must coordinate their efforts.
The purpose of this coordination is to ensure that each recordable injury or illness is logged exactly once. It must appear either on the host contractor's log (if the host contractor provides day-to-day supervision) or on the staffing agency's log (if the staffing agency maintains day-to-day supervision). In this scenario, once the framing subcontractor records the leased worker's injury, the leasing company does not record that same incident on its own OSHA 300 Log.
Step 4: Distinguishing Self-Employed Workers, Sole Proprietors, and Partners
Not every individual present on a jobsite falls under the covered employee definition for recordkeeping. The scenario changes significantly if the injured person is an independent sole proprietor rather than a leased worker. According to § 1904.31(b)(1), self-employed individuals are not covered by the OSH Act or the recordkeeping regulation. If a truly self-employed person becomes ill or injured while working at a jobsite, neither the trade subcontractor nor any other business records that event on an OSHA 300 Log.
Similarly, organizational structure dictates internal coverage. If a business operates as a sole proprietorship or a partnership, the business owner or partners are not considered employees for recordkeeping purposes under § 1904.31(a). Therefore, injuries sustained by owners or partners are excluded from the log, whereas injuries sustained by their payroll employees or supervised leased labor must be recorded.
Key Rules for Trade Contractors Managing Leased Crews
To avoid compliance gaps and maintain accurate jobsite records when bringing temporary or leased personnel onto a project, contractors should establish consistent administrative practices:
- Identify who directs daily assignments: Day-to-day supervision dictates recording obligations, not payroll distribution.
- Communicate directly with staffing agencies: Establish clear coordination so incidents involving temporary help services or employee leasing services are logged by only one party.
- Exclude self-employed parties: Verify that independent, self-employed individuals and business partners are not mistakenly entered onto your log.
- Maintain consistent oversight: Ensure field foremen immediately notify project management whenever leased personnel suffer workplace injuries.
Sources
Details regarding employee coverage and supervision standards are drawn directly from official federal safety regulations:
Published November 9, 2026. No affiliate links on this page. Facts come from the sources linked above; check them for updates.