Federal workplace injury reporting requirements sit on two tracks that run at different speeds. Employers have to record most work-related injuries and illnesses on internal OSHA logs, and they have to report the most serious incidents — deaths, hospitalizations, amputations, and eye losses — directly to OSHA within hours. Workers, separately, need to report injuries to a supervisor quickly enough to preserve their state workers’ compensation claim. Missing either clock has consequences.
OSHA Reporting Deadlines for Serious Incidents
The tightest deadline covers workplace fatalities: employers must report a work-related death to OSHA within eight hours of learning about it. Inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye must be reported within twenty-four hours.1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.39 – Reporting Fatalities, Hospitalizations, Amputations, and Losses of an Eye Reports go in by phone to the nearest OSHA area office, by calling OSHA’s 24-hour hotline, or through OSHA’s online reporting portal.2Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Report a Fatality or Severe Injury
One definition catches employers regularly. OSHA counts an “inpatient hospitalization” only as a formal admission for care or treatment. An emergency room visit for observation or diagnostic testing does not qualify and does not start the 24-hour clock.1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.39 – Reporting Fatalities, Hospitalizations, Amputations, and Losses of an Eye Sending a worker to the ER for X-rays after a fall does not trigger a report unless the hospital admits them.
State workers’ compensation deadlines run on a separate schedule and vary widely, from as short as 30 days after the injury to several years, depending on the state. Missing a state filing deadline can permanently bar an injured worker from benefits, which is why internal reporting to a supervisor matters even for injuries that look minor at first.
Which Injuries Have to Be Recorded
Not every scrape becomes a formal record. An injury or illness is recordable when it is work-related, is a new case, and results in death, days away from work, restricted duty or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant diagnosis from a licensed healthcare provider.3eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1904 – Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses That last item is what catches serious conditions when the worker hasn’t yet missed time.
The dividing line between first aid and medical treatment is where most disputes happen. OSHA reads first aid narrowly: cleaning and bandaging, non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength, wound-closure strips, tetanus shots, draining a blister, and similar minor measures. Once treatment crosses that line — stitches instead of butterfly closures, prescription-strength pain medication instead of over-the-counter — the case is recordable.
Which Employers Have to Keep Records
Most employers with more than ten employees must maintain OSHA injury and illness records using Forms 300, 300A, and 301.4Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements at 29 CFR Part 1904 Two groups get a partial pass on the routine logs:
- Companies with ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year, unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics directs them in writing to keep records.5Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.1 – Partial Exemption for Employers With 10 or Fewer Employees
- Employers in certain low-hazard industries classified by NAICS code, regardless of size.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904 Subpart B Appendix A – Partially Exempt Industries
“Partial” is the operative word. Both groups still have to report fatalities, inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, and eye losses to OSHA within the standard deadlines.5Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.1 – Partial Exemption for Employers With 10 or Fewer Employees The exemption removes the ongoing paperwork; it does not remove the duty to call OSHA when something serious happens.
What an Injury Report Should Contain
A complete report captures the date and time of the incident, the specific location (a particular aisle, machine, or floor), a factual description of what happened, the body part affected, and the names and contact information of any witnesses. Descriptions should stay with observable facts rather than fault or speculation.
OSHA supplies standardized forms: Form 301 is the individual incident report, Form 300 is the running annual log, and Form 300A is the year-end summary. All three are available through OSHA’s recordkeeping page.7Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Forms for Recording Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses Many states also require their own First Report of Injury form for workers’ compensation, which collects similar information but goes to a different agency.
Privacy Cases
Some injuries require the employer to leave the worker’s name off the 300 Log entirely and enter “privacy case” instead, keeping a separate confidential list that links case numbers to identities. This applies to injuries to intimate body parts or the reproductive system, injuries resulting from sexual assault, mental illnesses, HIV, hepatitis, or tuberculosis, needlesticks and cuts from contaminated sharps, and any illness where the employee asks that their name be withheld. When removing the name alone might not prevent identification, the employer may also generalize the description — a reproductive system injury logged as a “lower abdominal injury,” for example.8Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.29 – Forms
Electronic Submission to OSHA
Certain employers have to submit their data to OSHA electronically through the Injury Tracking Application.9Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Injury Tracking Application The thresholds are tiered. Employers with 250 or more employees in industries not on the exempt list submit Form 300A data. Employers with 20 to 249 employees in industries listed in Appendix A to Subpart E also submit 300A data. Employers with 100 or more employees in high-hazard industries listed in Appendix B to Subpart E have the broadest obligation: electronic submission of Forms 300, 300A, and 301.10Occupational Safety and Health Administration. ITA Coverage Application OSHA’s ITA Coverage Application will confirm which tier applies to a given establishment.
What Happens After a Report Is Filed
Once a report reaches the workers’ compensation insurer or state agency, a claim or tracking number usually comes back within a few business days. That number is the reference point for medical billing, adjuster correspondence, and any investigation.
Internally, the employer updates the OSHA 300 Log to reflect the new case. At the end of the calendar year, totals are compiled onto Form 300A, which must be posted in a visible location in the workplace from February 1 through April 30 of the following year.11Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.32 – Annual Summary
Records have to be kept for five years after the calendar year they cover. During that window, the 300 Log must be updated for newly discovered recordable injuries and for any reclassification of an existing case. The 300A summary and 301 forms do not require updating.12Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.33 – Retention and Updating
Employee and Union Access to Records
Workers have a right to see their own records. When a current or former employee requests a copy of the OSHA 300 Log for an establishment where they worked, or their own 301 Incident Report, the employer must provide it by the end of the next business day. An authorized collective bargaining representative can request copies of 301 forms for the establishment; the employer has seven calendar days to respond, and personal identifying information beyond the case description is removed from the copies provided.13Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1904.35 – Employee Involvement
Retaliation Is Prohibited, and the Clock Is Short
Under 29 U.S.C. § 660(c), no employer may fire, demote, cut hours, blacklist, or otherwise punish an employee for reporting a workplace injury, filing a safety complaint, or participating in an OSHA inspection. The protection also covers workers about to testify in a proceeding and workers who exercise any right under the OSH Act for themselves or coworkers.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 660 – Judicial Review
A retaliation complaint has to be filed with OSHA within 30 days of the retaliatory action. Complaints can go in online at whistleblowers.gov, by calling 1-800-321-6742, by visiting the nearest OSHA office, or by mail.15Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Protection From Retaliation for Engaging in Safety and Health Activities Miss the 30 days and the federal claim is gone. Where OSHA finds retaliation, it can seek a court order for reinstatement and back pay.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 660 – Judicial Review
Penalties for Failing to Report or Record
OSHA does not treat recordkeeping as a paperwork technicality. A serious violation, including a failure to properly record or report an injury, carries a penalty of up to $16,550. Willful or repeated violations reach as much as $165,514 each.16Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation.
The exposure compounds. Each unrecorded injury can be treated as a separate violation, so an employer that ignores its logging obligations across a year can face citations for every missing 300 Log entry, every missing 301 form, and the failure to post the 300A summary. Large penalties also tend to bring follow-up inspections.