OSHA Injury Records: Worker Access and Reporting Rights
Learn when workers can request OSHA injury records, what a prompt injury report does and does not establish, and how anti-retaliation rules apply.
What OSHA Injury Records Are
OSHA recordkeeping rules use three core forms for recordable work-related injuries and illnesses: the OSHA 300 Log, the OSHA 300A annual summary, and the OSHA 301 Incident Report, or equivalent forms. Many employers with more than 10 employees must keep records, while some low-hazard industries are partly exempt. A recordkeeping rule is not a decision about workers' compensation, fault, disability, leave, or whether an employment claim will succeed.
You Can Report an Injury Even if Recordability Is Unclear
Employers must maintain a reasonable procedure for employees to report work-related injuries and illnesses promptly and accurately. A procedure is not reasonable if it would deter or discourage a reasonable employee from making an accurate report. An employee report alone does not establish that a case is recordable: the employer must still determine whether an injury or illness occurred, whether it was work-related, and whether the recordkeeping criteria apply.
Who Can Request an OSHA 300 Log
An employee, former employee, personal representative, or authorized employee representative may request the current or stored OSHA 300 Log for an establishment where the employee or former employee worked. Under the rule, the employer must provide a free copy by the end of the next business day. The request does not entitle the requester to the confidential name-and-case-number list for privacy cases, and access rules can differ for other records.
Your Own OSHA 301 Incident Report Has a Separate Access Rule
An employee, former employee, or that person's personal representative may request one free copy of the OSHA 301 Incident Report describing that person's injury or illness. The employer generally must provide it by the end of the next business day. An OSHA 301 report can be useful factual evidence, but it does not by itself establish entitlement to benefits, prove retaliation, or replace a timely complaint under another law.
Reporting, Recording, and Severe-Injury Notice Are Different Duties
A worker's prompt report helps document what happened and allows the employer to evaluate recordkeeping. For a recordable case, OSHA's rule generally requires the employer to enter it on the 300 Log and 301 form within seven calendar days after receiving information that a recordable injury or illness occurred. Separate reporting rules can require an employer to notify OSHA quickly after a work-related fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. Those employer duties do not replace medical care or a worker's own reporting and filing choices.
Retaliation for Injury Reporting Can Be Prohibited
The recordkeeping rule prohibits an employer from discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness. Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act can also protect covered safety activity. A later write-up, points, reduced hours, test, transfer, threat, or termination does not automatically prove retaliation; the report, employer knowledge, timing, stated reason, policy, and treatment of comparable workers can matter.
Federal Retaliation Deadlines Can Be Short
A federal Section 11(c) complaint generally must be filed with OSHA within 30 calendar days after the alleged adverse action. State-plan, workers' compensation, disability, leave, union, and other whistleblower routes can use different procedures and deadlines. An internal report or request for records should not be assumed to pause an outside filing period.
What to Preserve
Keep lawfully accessible copies of the report you made, the reporting procedure, confirmation of when it was received, requested log or incident-report records, medical or first-aid paperwork, schedules, messages, discipline, policy versions, and the employer's stated reason for a later job action. Make a dated timeline and do not remove confidential, patient, customer, coworker, or proprietary records you are not entitled to keep.
When to Get a Free Consult
Get a free consult promptly if reporting a work injury, requesting your OSHA injury records, or raising a safety concern was followed by discipline, reduced hours, threats, lost work, demotion, or termination. This is general information, not legal advice; rights depend on the worksite, employer, recordkeeping coverage, protected activity, jurisdiction, filing route, deadlines, and full facts.
Primary Sources
- GovInfo: 29 C.F.R. 1904.35 Employee Reporting and Access to Injury RecordsAccessed October 6, 2026
- OSHA: 29 C.F.R. 1904.29 Injury and Illness Recordkeeping FormsAccessed October 6, 2026
- OSHA: Recordkeeping Requirements and Worker AccessAccessed October 6, 2026
- OSHA: Recording Work-Related Injuries and IllnessesAccessed October 6, 2026
- U.S. Code: OSH Act Anti-Retaliation Provision, 29 U.S.C. Section 660(c)Accessed October 6, 2026
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This article is general information, not legal advice. For a review of your situation, get a free consult with the YesLawyer team.
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