All employers must report all incidents that result in any of the following:

• Death of an employee.
• Hospitalization of an employee for treatment other than observation or diagnostic testing.
• An amputation, loss of an eye or serious disfigurement of any body part.1

You must immediately report a serious injury or death by calling or emailing the nearest Cal/OSHA District Office.2

Employers must report a serious injury or death immediately by calling or using an online mechanism/portal created by Cal/OSHA. Until Cal/OSHA has developed its online mechanism, employers can still make the report by calling or emailing. Employers can find more reporting information and resources on Cal/OSHA’s website.

“Immediately” is defined as soon as practically possible, but not longer than eight hours after you know or should have known about the incident. If you can demonstrate that there were problematic circumstances, you can make the report no more than 24 hours after the incident. In addition to calling or emailing, it is advisable to fax a copy of the report to the Cal/OSHA District Office. Keep a copy that includes the date, time and number to which it was faxed.

You must submit the incident reports in two situations:

• When an employee is seriously or fatally injured; and
• When you receive an annual survey form from the Bureau of Labor Statistics or a specific request from Cal/OSHA.

• California law mandates a fine of $5,000 for employers who do not report a serious injury or death. Individual employees may be liable for up to one year in jail and/or a $15,000 fine. Corporations face fines up to $150,000.

It is unlawful for an employer to discharge or discriminate against an employee for reporting a work-related fatality, injury or illness.3 (This is separate from claims of retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim. For more information, see Employee Protection from Workers’ Compensation Discrimination.)

Reportable Incident Procedures

When a reportable incident occurs, prepare an incident report and submit it to Cal/OSHA no later than eight hours after the incident occurs or eight hours after a death occurs, regardless of the time elapsed between the incident and the death. The incident report must include:

• Incident time and date;
• Your name, address and telephone number;
• Name and job title or badge number of the person reporting the accident;
• Address of the incident site;
• Name of the person to contact at the incident site;
• Identity of other law enforcement agencies and personnel present at the incident site;
• A description of the incident;
• If the incident scene or equipment that caused the incident was altered; and
• For each injured employee:
• Name and address;
• Nature of the injury; and
• Location to which the injured employee was moved.

To find the nearest Cal/OSHA district office:

• Look in the state government agencies section of your phone book.
• Read the poster that you must display in your workplace
• Visit Cal/OSHA’s website

Whenever a state, county or local fire or police agency is called to an accident in which an employee has experienced serious injury, illness or death, the responding agency must telephone the nearest Cal/OSHA office.

You are not required to report incidents that:

• Occur on a commercial airplane, train or bus; or
• Occur in a motor vehicle accident on a public highway, unless the accident occurred in a construction zone.

Agencies other than Cal/OSHA investigate the types of incidents listed above.

For information on recording workplace injuries that do not involve serious injury or death, see Recording Work-Related Injury and Illness. For more information on reporting injuries as part of the workers’ compensation process, see What To Do When an Injury Occurs.

1. Lab. Code sec. 6302(h); Lab. Code sec. 6409.1

2. 8 CCR sec. 342

3. Lab. Code sec. 6310