Citations
California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Chapter 7, Subchapter 1, Article 2, Employer Records of Occupational Injury or Illness
California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Chapter 3.2, Subchapter 2, Article 3,342, Reporting Work-Connected Fatalities and Serious Injuries
Federal: 29 CFR 1904
Reporting fatalities and injuries within eight hours
As required by Title 8 regulations, section 342, every employer shall report immediately by telephone or telegraph to the nearest District Office of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health any serious injury or illness, or death, of an employee occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment.
Immediately means as soon as practically possible but not longer than 8 hours after the employer knows or with diligent inquiry would have known of the death or serious injury or illness. If the employer can demonstrate that exigent circumstances exist, the time frame for the report may be made no longer than 24 hours after the incident.
Whenever a state, county, or local fire or police agency is called to an accident involving an employee covered by this part in which a serious injury, or illness, or death occurs, the nearest office of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health shall be notified by telephone immediately by the responding agency.
When making such report, whether by telephone or telegraph, the reporting party shall include the following information, if available:
- Time and date of accident.
- Employer's name, address and telephone number.
- Name and job title, or badge number of person reporting the accident.
- Address of site of accident or event.
- Name of person to contact at site of accident.
- Name and address of injured employee(s).
- Nature of injury.
- Location where injured employee(s) was (were) moved to.
- List and identity of other law enforcement agencies present at the site of accident.
- Description of accident and whether the accident scene or instrumentality has been altered.
The federal regulation requires employers to report the death of any employee as a result of a work-related incident within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours. The California rule is more restrictive, and requires employers to report within 8 hours any “serious injury or illness.” Effective January 1, 2020, California revised its definition of “serious injury, illness, and exposure” to mean the following:
- any hospitalization, regardless of length of time, for other than medical observation or diagnostic testing;
- amputation;
- loss of an eye; or
- serious degree of permanent disfigurement.
The definition does not include any injury or illness or death caused by an accident on a public street or highway, unless the accident occurred in a construction zone.
Serious exposure means any exposure of an employee to a hazardous substance when the exposure occurs as a result of an incident, accident, emergency, or exposure over time and is in a degree or amount sufficient to create a realistic possibility that death or serious physical harm in the future could result from the actual hazard created by the exposure.
The federal rule requires that a work-related death be reported up to 30 days after the date of the accident. The California requirements do not include a 30-day time limit from the incident date.
Annual summary
- California’s requirements to complete and post the Annual Summary are the same as the federal requirements, with two differences:
- California requires employers provide employee access to current or stored copies of the Annual Summary in addition to the Cal/OSHA Form 300. The federal OSHA standard does not specify that the Annual Summary must be supplied.
- California requires employers to present or mail the Annual Summary to each employee who does not normally report, at least weekly, to a location where it is posted (see 14300.32(b)(7)). The federal standard does not include this provision.
Annual requirements to submit 300A data to OSHA
California’s requirements for certain employers to submit their 300A data to OSHA are the same as the federal requirements prior to 2024. The establishments listed below must submit the data to OSHA using the Injury Tracking Application website by March 2:
- All establishments with 250 or more employees, unless specifically exempted by section 14300.2 of title 8 of the California Code of Regulations
- Establishments with 20 to 249 employees in the specific industries listed in Appendix H.
Record retention
- California specifies the information that an employer must have when keeping records for multiple establishments at a headquarters or other central location. Specifically, the employer must:
- Have the address and telephone number of the central location or headquarters where records are kept available at each worksite; and
- Have personnel available at the central location or headquarters during normal business hours to transmit information from the records maintained there.
Employee access to records
- The federal standard states generically what information must be included and deleted when authorized employee representatives ask for copies of the OSHA Form 301 Incident Reports. California specifically states what personally identifying information must be deleted when an authorized employee representatives ask for copies of the Cal/OSHA form 301, Incident Reports, or equivalent forms (see 14300.35(b)(2)(E)(2)). This includes:
- Name;
- Address;
- Date of birth;
- Date of hire;
- Gender;
- Name of physician;
- Location where treatment was provided;
- Whether the employee was treated in an emergency room; and
- Whether the employee was hospitalized overnight as an in-patient.
- California has a requirement affirming the rights of employees and their representatives to bargain collectively for access to information relating to occupational injuries and illnesses in 14300.35. The federal standard does not contain such language.
Needlestick and sharps injuries
- California clarifies the scope for recording of needlesticks and sharps injuries, stating that they are not limited to health care and related businesses. The federal rule does not contain such clarifying language.
Motion picture industry
- In California, establishments in SIC Code 781 (Motion Picture Production and Allied Services) are required to keep a 300 Log. Federal law does not require these establishments to maintain an injury log.
- California requires establishments in SIC Code 781 to provide the current or stored Cal/OSHA Form 300 or Annual Summary within seven calendar days rather than by the end of the next business day. Copies must be provided to employees, former employees, personal representatives, or authorized representatives. The federal rule does not cover this industry.
Public employers
- California distinguishes between private and public employers with respect to the granting authority for variance petitions. The federal standard does not distinguish between public and private employers with respect to submitting variance petitions because the federal standard, in federal OSHA states, only applies to private employers.
Government access to records
- California provides government representatives access to the original recordkeeping documents and one set of copies free of charge. The federal standard requires that copies of the records (not originals) be supplied to government representatives upon request, free of charge.
