Retention is simple; the update duty inside the retention period is the part that gets missed.
Retention. You must save the OSHA 300 Log, the privacy case list if one exists, the annual summary, and the OSHA 301 Incident Report forms for five years following the end of the calendar year that these records cover (29 CFR 1904.33(a)). The 2026 log is kept through the end of 2031.
Updating the Log. During the storage period you must update stored 300 Logs to include newly discovered recordable injuries or illnesses and to show any changes that have occurred in the classification of previously recorded cases; if the description or outcome of a case changes, remove or line out the original entry and enter the new information (29 CFR 1904.33(b)(1)). A case that was recorded as restricted work and later becomes days away gets corrected on the old log, not just noted in a file.
Not required to update. You are not required to update the annual summary (29 CFR 1904.33(b)(2)) or the 301 Incident Reports ((b)(3)), though you may do so.
Related clocks. Each case must be entered on the Log within seven calendar days of receiving information that a recordable case occurred (29 CFR 1904.29(b)(3)), and the medical and exposure records governed by 1910.1020 run on a different, much longer schedule — generally duration of employment plus 30 years (29 CFR 1910.1020(d)(1)(i)).
Five years of logs in a drawer satisfies retention. Five years of logs that nobody corrected when a case changed does not.