OSHA's 8-Hour and 24-Hour Severe Injury Reporting Rules

When a work-related incident kills a worker or causes an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye, federal regulation 29 CFR §1904.39 sets a hard deadline for reporting it to OSHA — 8 hours for a fatality, 24 hours for the other three outcomes — and that duty applies to essentially every employer covered by the OSH Act, regardless of size or industry.

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• A work-related fatality must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours.
• A work-related in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye must be reported within 24 hours.
• Reports can be made to the closest OSHA Area Office, or by calling the OSHA toll-free number.
• A fatality is only reportable under this rule if it occurs within 30 days of the incident; a hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss is only reportable if it occurs within 24 hours of the incident.
• This reporting duty binds every OSH Act–covered employer, even one that otherwise qualifies for a small-employer or industry recordkeeping exemption.

The two reporting clocks

The regulation sets two separate deadlines depending on the severity of the outcome.

For a death: “Within eight (8) hours after the death of any employee as a result of a work-related incident, you must report the fatality” (29 CFR §1904.39, eCFR).

For a severe but non-fatal injury: “Within twenty-four (24) hours after the in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees or an employee’s amputation or an employee’s loss of an eye” (29 CFR §1904.39, eCFR), the employer must report it.

How to report it

The rule gives employers more than one reporting channel, including a dedicated phone line: “1-800-321-OSHA (1-800-321-6742)” (29 CFR §1904.39, eCFR).

Reportable-event end

The 8-hour and 24-hour clocks only start if the underlying event itself falls inside an outer window measured from the incident, not from when the employer learns about it.

A fatality is reportable only if it “occurs within thirty (30) days of the work-related incident” (29 CFR §1904.39, eCFR).

A hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye is reportable only if it occurs “within twenty-four (24) hours of the work-related incident” (29 CFR §1904.39, eCFR).

Who this duty applies to

This reporting requirement is separate from OSHA’s routine injury-and-illness recordkeeping rules, and it is broader than they are. It reaches “all employers covered by the OSH Act” (29 CFR §1904.39, eCFR) — meaning an employer that is otherwise exempt from keeping OSHA injury logs because of its small size or its industry classification still has to make this report if a covered event occurs.

The regulation also contains narrower carve-outs, including provisions addressing motor-vehicle incidents on a public street or highway and incidents involving commercial or public transportation. This article does not describe what those carve-outs cover or exclude; readers who need that detail should consult the regulation text directly.

What this article does not answer

This article explains only what §1904.39 itself requires and the clocks it sets. It does not determine whether any particular injury or death was “work-related” under OSHA’s definitions, and it does not say whether any specific employer actually complied with this reporting duty in a given case. It has nothing to say about an individual worker’s own injury claim, dispute, or compensation arising from an incident — those are separate legal and administrative processes. It also does not address whether a State Plan state imposes reporting requirements that are stricter or faster than the federal 8-hour and 24-hour clocks described here; §1904.39 alone does not answer that, and a reader in a State Plan jurisdiction should check that state’s own rules.

Source links

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-XVII/part-1904