OSHA Incident Reporting Requirements: What Must Be Reported and When?

At 7:42 in the morning, a worker falls from scaffolding on a construction site. He is transported to hospital and admitted for in-patient care with a fractured pelvis.

The site supervisor calls the owner. The owner calls their insurance broker. An hour passes. Then another. By 9:00 AM, no one has called OSHA.

Under 29 CFR 1904.39, that call was legally required within 24 hours of learning about the hospitalization. By the time the employer reports at the end of the day, the deadline has already passed. The late report triggers a penalty of up to $16,131.

This scenario is not exceptional. Deadline failures in OSHA incident reporting are among the most common and most avoidable compliance violations in regulated workplaces. This guide explains exactly what must be reported, when, and how.

The clock starts when the employer learns about the incident, not when it occurred. If a worker is hospitalised overnight and the employer is notified the next morning, the 24-hour deadline runs from the time of notification, not from the time of the incident.

Any work-related fatality must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours of the employer learning of the death. This includes deaths that occur at the worksite at the time of the incident and deaths that occur later in hospital as a result of a work-related injury or illness, provided the death occurs within 30 days of the incident.

Heart attacks at work are reportable if the employer has reason to believe the event was work-related. OSHA will determine whether the fatality is work-related and whether further investigation is warranted. When in doubt, report.

The hospitalisation of one or more employees for in-patient care as a result of a work-related injury or illness must be reported within 24 hours. In-patient care means the employee is formally admitted to the hospital, not merely treated in the emergency department and released.

An emergency room visit without admission is not a reportable event under 29 CFR 1904.39, though it may need to be recorded on the OSHA 300 Log depending on the nature of the injury.

Any work-related amputation must be reported within 24 hours. Amputation under OSHA’s definition includes the traumatic loss of a limb or other external body part. This includes fingertip amputations with or without bone loss, partial amputations, and avulsions.

If an employee loses a fingertip during a work task and the bone is exposed, this is reportable even if the employee does not require hospitalisation. The nature of the injury determines reportability, not whether the employee is admitted to hospital.

Employers have three options for reporting a qualifying incident to OSHA. All three are accepted and produce the same legal result.

Phone: OSHA local office. Call the nearest OSHA area office during normal business hours. Contact information for all OSHA area offices is available at osha.gov.

Phone: OSHA 24/7 hotline. Call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) at any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays. For fatalities and incidents where the 8-hour or 24-hour deadline may expire outside business hours, the hotline ensures the report is filed on time.

Online reporting. OSHA’s online reporting form is available at osha.gov. Online reporting is available at any time but requires access to a computer and an internet connection at the time of the report.

Employer name and address
Name of the injured or ill employee
Date and time of the incident
Location where the incident occurred
Type of incident (fatality, hospitalisation, amputation, eye loss)
Brief description of what happened
Name and phone number of the contact person

Employers sometimes delay reporting because the incident is still under investigation or because they are waiting for a definitive medical determination. The reporting deadline does not pause for investigation. File the initial report with the information available and supplement it as additional facts become available. OSHA expects timely notification, not a completed investigation summary.

If multiple workers are hospitalised, lose limbs, or lose eyes in a single incident such as an explosion or structural collapse, each qualifying injury must be reported separately. The 24-hour clock runs from the time the employer learns of each employee’s hospitalisation or injury type, which may differ if workers are transported to different facilities or if the severity of individual injuries becomes clear at different times.

Filing a report does not automatically trigger an inspection. OSHA triages incoming reports and allocates inspection resources based on severity, industry, establishment history, and available staff. However, certain events, particularly fatalities and incidents involving multiple hospitalisations, typically result in an inspection.

If OSHA opens an inspection, the employer must cooperate with the investigator’s access to the worksite, personnel, and records. The investigation will examine the circumstances of the incident, the employer’s safety programme, training records, and whether any OSHA standards were violated.

Penalties for late or missed reports are significant. As of 2025, the maximum penalty for failure to report is $16,131 per violation. For wilful or repeated violations, penalties can reach $161,323 per violation. Failing to report is not treated as a minor paperwork issue.

Many employers delay reporting because they fear the report will be used against them. OSHA’s reporting requirement is not an admission of liability or fault. It is a notification obligation. The incident investigation that follows determines whether any violations occurred. The absence of a timely report, however, is itself a violation and evidence that the employer did not respond appropriately to the event.

✓ All supervisors and safety leads know the four reportable event types: fatality, hospitalisation, amputation, eye loss
✓ The OSHA 24/7 hotline number (1-800-321-OSHA) is posted and accessible at all times
✓ Supervisors know the deadline clock starts when they learn of the event, not when it occurred
✓ The incident reporting procedure specifies who makes the OSHA report (do not assume someone else will)
✓ An emergency department visit without admission is not reportable, but must be evaluated for OSHA 300 Log recording
✓ Fingertip amputations are reportable regardless of hospitalisation
✓ Deaths occurring within 30 days of a work incident must be reported even if the original injury was previously reported
✓ The employer’s legal obligation to report is separate from any insurance or workers’ compensation notification
✓ Late reports are violations with penalties up to $16,131 per event (2025 rates)