A one-page workplace incident report form built for construction: who, when, where, what happened, the injury and body part, treatment, witnesses, what was done straight away and who was told, with the OSHA reporting deadlines printed on the sheet. Below it: what to write in each box, good and bad example sentences, near miss reports, and how to tell if the case goes on the OSHA 300 Log.
This is the basic first report, the one to fill in on the shift it happens. For a case that turns out to be recordable you also need every field of OSHA Form 301 (see is it recordable); the Incident Report Kit has that full two-page report plus near miss, witness statement and investigation forms.
What to include in an incident report, box by box
The boxes follow the questions OSHA asks on its own incident report, Form 301, cut down to what a foreman can fill in on site, with tick boxes for the construction events that come up most. [OSHA]
On the form
What goes there
Date, time, job, exact location
Pin it down to the floor, gridline or area, not just the site address. OSHA's own incident report asks for the date and the time of the event, and the time the worker started work that day. [OSHA] A start time of 6:00 and an injury at 4:30 tells you something about fatigue.
Person involved, trade, employer
On a multi-employer site, write which company the person works for. OSHA's investigation guide says the investigation should be shared with each employer on the site, and that a staffing agency and the host employer should both investigate when a temporary worker is hurt. [OSHA]
Type of event
Injury, illness, near miss, property damage and the rest. Tick every box that fits: a forklift striking a rack and a worker is both vehicle and injury.
What they were doing just before
The task, plus the tools, equipment or materials in use. Form 301 asks the same question and tells you to be specific. [OSHA] "Carrying a sheet of plywood up the stair tower" is useful; "working" is not.
What happened
The sequence: what moved, fell, broke or touched the person, and what happened next. Form 301 wants to know how the injury occurred. [OSHA] Facts you saw or were told, with who told you; no opinions about fault.
Injury, body part, what caused it
The kind of injury and the part of the body, with left or right, and the object or substance that did the harm. These are the three things Form 301 asks for in its injury questions. [OSHA]
Treatment and outcome
The boxes separate first aid from a clinic visit, an emergency room visit and an in-patient admission. That difference decides whether the case goes on the OSHA 300 Log and whether OSHA must be called (see below). [OSHA][OSHA]
Witnesses
Name, company and phone for each one, and whether you took a statement. OSHA says the sooner a witness is interviewed, the more accurate the statement will be. [OSHA]
Immediate actions
What was done to make the area safe before work went on: equipment tagged out, the area barricaded, photos taken. OSHA's guide says to preserve the scene so evidence is not moved or changed. [OSHA]
Who was told, signatures
The supervisor and the time they were told, OSHA if the 8 or 24 hour rule applies, then the signatures of the person who filled it in, the person involved and the supervisor.
How to write an incident report
Make the area safe and get care first. OSHA's investigation guide puts emergency response first: the site must be safe before anyone starts looking into what happened. [OSHA] Then keep the scene as it is, with cones or tape, so nothing gets moved. [OSHA]
Fill it in the same shift. Memories fade fast, and OSHA says interviews should happen as soon as things settle and the site is safe. [OSHA] If the case turns out to be recordable, the clock is short anyway: seven calendar days to get it on the 300 Log and Form 301. [OSHA]
Write facts, not blame. Say what you saw, what you were told and by whom. Leave out "careless", "should have" and guesses about why. OSHA is blunt about it:
“If an investigation is focused on finding fault, it will always stop short of discovering the root causes.”
Talk to the people involved, one at a time. In their own language, with a translator if needed. Tell them it is fact finding, not fault finding, let them tell it their way without interrupting, then read back what you wrote down so they can correct it. [OSHA]
Name the body part and the object. "Hand injury" is not enough: which hand, which finger, cut or crushed, and by what. [OSHA]
Decide what happens next before you file it. Is it a death, an in-patient admission, an amputation or a lost eye (call OSHA)? Is it recordable (log it within seven days)? What has to change on the job? If the answer is a change to how the work is done, update the task's job hazard analysis and go over it with the crew.
Incident report example: weak vs strong sentences
Same incident, written two ways. The strong column is what a reader needs a month later to understand the event and fix the cause. The style follows OSHA's own Form 301 examples, such as a ladder slipping on a wet floor and the worker falling 20 feet: what moved, what happened, how far. [OSHA]
Box
Weak
Strong
Doing just before
Framing.
Nailing 2x6 top plate on the second floor, east wall, with a pneumatic framing nailer, standing on a 6 ft stepladder.
What happened
He wasn't paying attention and fell off the ladder.
The ladder's left foot sat on a loose piece of OSB. The OSB slid as he reached right, the ladder tipped and he fell about 4 ft to the subfloor, landing on his left side.
Injury and body part
Hurt his arm.
Pain and swelling, left wrist. Sent to the clinic for an X-ray.
Object involved
Ladder.
Loose OSB offcut under the ladder foot; subfloor.
Immediate actions
Told him to be careful.
Floor swept of offcuts on the second floor; ladder checked and set back up on clean deck; photos of the OSB and ladder position taken before cleanup.
The weak version blames the worker and stops there. The strong version points at the cause you can fix (offcuts left on the deck), which is exactly where OSHA says to look: past the immediate cause to why the condition existed. [OSHA]
Near miss reports: why, and what to record
OSHA's investigation guide defines the near miss like this:
“An incident that could have caused serious injury or illness but did not”
OSHA strongly encourages employers to investigate these close calls as well as the incidents where someone was hurt. [OSHA] A pallet of block that drops from the forks and lands where a laborer was standing a minute earlier has the same causes as one that lands on him; the near miss report is your free chance to fix them.
Use the same form: tick "Near miss (no one hurt)", fill in the who, when and where, write what happened and what could have happened, and list what was done about it. Leave the injury and treatment boxes blank. There is no OSHA log entry for a near miss, because nobody was injured or made ill, but bring it up at the next toolbox talk and record who was there on a safety meeting sign-in sheet. If near misses keep happening at the same step of a job, that step needs a fresh look in a job hazard analysis.
After the report: is it recordable on the OSHA 300 Log?
An employer must keep the OSHA 300 Log unless it is partly exempt: a company that never had more than 10 employees at any point in the last calendar year, or an establishment in one of the industries listed in the partial exemption rule. Even an exempt employer keeps records if OSHA or BLS asks in writing. [OSHA][OSHA] If you keep the log, a work-related case is recordable when it meets the general recording criteria:
“You must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recording criteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.”
Some diagnoses are recordable on their own, once a physician or other licensed health care professional makes them, even without any of those outcomes: a fractured or cracked bone, a punctured eardrum, cancer or a chronic irreversible disease. [OSHA]
The line most foremen need is first aid. OSHA's list of first aid is complete, so anything not on it counts as medical treatment. [OSHA] On the list: non-prescription medicine at non-prescription strength, a tetanus shot, cleaning a surface wound, bandages and butterfly closures, hot or cold packs, non-rigid wraps, removing a splinter by simple means, flushing something out of an eye, finger guards, and drinking fluids for heat stress. [OSHA] Stitches, staples, a rigid splint kept on after transport, prescription medicine given as treatment, physical therapy: those are medical treatment, so the case is recordable. [OSHA]
A recordable case goes on the 300 Log and gets a Form 301 or an equivalent form, both within seven calendar days of you learning about it. [OSHA] On what makes a form equivalent:
“An equivalent form is one that has the same information, is as readable and understandable, and is completed using the same instructions as the OSHA form it replaces.”
Severe injuries: when you must call OSHA (8 and 24 hours)
This one applies to every employer under OSHA, including those exempt from keeping the log because of size or industry. [OSHA][OSHA]
What happened
Report to OSHA within
Only if it happens within
A worker dies from a work-related incident
8 hours
30 days of the incident
In-patient hospitalization of one or more workers
24 hours
24 hours of the incident
An amputation (fingertips count, even if reattached)
24 hours
24 hours of the incident
Loss of an eye
24 hours
24 hours of the incident
The clock starts when you or your agent learn of the event, or learn that it was work-related. [OSHA] Report by phone or in person to the nearest OSHA Area Office, by calling 1-800-321-6742, or online at osha.gov; if the Area Office is closed, a voicemail, fax or email does not count. [OSHA] Have ready the business name, the location and time, the type of event, the number and names of the workers, a contact person and phone number, and a short description. [OSHA]
Three details that matter on a construction job. A vehicle crash on a public road is not reportable, unless it happens in a construction work zone, and then it is. [OSHA] A hospital stay for observation or tests only, or a trip to the emergency room without admission, is not reportable. [OSHA][OSHA] And for a temporary worker, the employer who supervises the worker day to day makes the report. [OSHA] Some state plan states have their own reporting rules. [OSHA]
Keeping the records, and the right to report
How long to keep them:
“You must save the OSHA 300 Log, the privacy case list (if one exists), the annual summary, and the OSHA 301 Incident Report forms for five (5) years following the end of the calendar year that these records cover.”
Your crews also need to know how to report. An employer keeping OSHA records must set up a way for employees to report work-related injuries and illnesses promptly and accurately, tell each employee about it, and tell them they have the right to report. [OSHA] The rule adds:
“A procedure is not reasonable if it would deter or discourage a reasonable employee from accurately reporting a workplace injury or illness”
“You must not discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness.”
Section 11(c) of the OSH Act separately protects workers who report an injury, file a safety complaint or ask to see the injury records. [OSHA] A safety rule that punishes everyone who reports an injury gets you fewer reports, not fewer injuries.
Questions
Common questions
Does OSHA require an incident report form?
For recordable injuries and illnesses, yes: an employer who keeps OSHA records must complete OSHA Form 301 or an equivalent form for each case entered on the OSHA 300 Log, within seven calendar days. Employers with 10 or fewer employees all last year, and some low-hazard industries, are partly exempt from keeping these records, but every employer must still report a death, in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye to OSHA. A report for a near miss or a first aid case is not required by OSHA, though OSHA strongly encourages investigating them.
What is OSHA Form 301, and can I use my own form instead?
Form 301 is the Injury and Illness Incident Report, one of the three OSHA recordkeeping forms with the 300 Log and the 300A annual summary. You may use your own form or an insurance form instead if it is an equivalent: it has the same information, is as readable and understandable, and is completed using the same instructions as Form 301. This free form is a basic first report; it does not carry every Form 301 field (for example the worker address, date of birth, hire date or the treating doctor), so for a recordable case either fill in Form 301 as well or use a full equivalent form.
How long do I keep incident reports?
OSHA requires the 300 Log, the privacy case list, the annual summary and the Form 301 incident reports to be kept for five years after the end of the calendar year they cover. Keep your own first reports with them so the file for each case is in one place.
Who fills out the incident report?
Usually the supervisor or foreman who was told about the incident, with the injured worker and the witnesses. OSHA says investigations are most effective when managers and employees work on them together. The person filling it in signs it, and so do the person involved and the supervisor.
What is the difference between a near miss and an incident?
OSHA uses incident for any work-related event where an injury, illness or death happened or could have happened. A near miss, which OSHA also calls a close call, is the kind where it could have caused serious harm but did not. So a near miss is a type of incident; it just has no injury to record.
Can an employer punish a worker for reporting an injury?
No. The OSHA recordkeeping rule says an employer must not discharge or discriminate against an employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness, and section 11(c) of the OSH Act also protects workers who report. Employers must also tell each employee how to report and that they have the right to report.
