LOCAL RULES

California incident report requirements

Your California incident report has 2 rules to meet. ReportDraft puts every one on your checklist and checks your draft before you sign.

  • A report to Cal/OSHA within 8 hours of a serious injury, illness or death
  • A Cal/OSHA Form 301 or equivalent within 7 calendar days for a recordable case
Start free: draft your California report

ReportDraft Safety from $12 a month. 14-day free trial with your first report and up to 5 template downloads. Card required, nothing charged today, cancel anytime. Need just one? One incident report for $19, no subscription.

California runs its own OSHA program. Cal/OSHA's rules in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations set when a serious injury, illness or death is reported, what the report says, and how the Cal/OSHA Form 301 incident report is kept. Here is each rule with a link to the official text, and how notes become a California incident report.

Last reviewed October 12, 2026 against the official sources listed below.

Incident reportCALIFORNIA / SAMPLE

Sample notes, 140 words

Company: Northgate Fabrication
Site: 1840 Industrial Pkwy, shipping dock 2
Date: 10/08/2026, about 2:15pm
Injured: Luis Romero, material handler, warehouse crew
Supervisor: Tom Reilly
...
FREE PREVIEW OF THESE NOTES
58%of your draft is ready from these notes

We sorted 5 items into 4 sections and flagged 1 to fix first.

2 California rules on your checklist, including a report to Cal/OSHA within 8 hours of a serious injury, illness or death.

Still to add

  • NeededType of incident
  • NeededCompleted by
  • RecommendedNotes for damage to property, equipment or the environment

Filled in for you

Company or organizationNorthgate Fabrication
Site address or location1840 Industrial Pkwy, shipping dock 2
Date of the incidentOct 8, 2026
Employee or person involved (full name)Luis Romero, material handler, warehouse crew
Start free and draft yours

14 days free, nothing to pay today. After your first report, your name, license and company details fill in by themselves. Or preview your own notes first, no sign-up.

What California requires

  • Every employer reports any serious injury or illness, or death, of an employee occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment to Cal/OSHA immediately, meaning as soon as practically possible but not longer than 8 hours after the employer knows or with diligent inquiry would have known (no longer than 24 hours if the employer can show exigent circumstances), by telephone or through the Division's online mechanism (by telephone or email until one is available)Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, s. 342 (a)
  • The report gives, if available: the time and date of the accident; the employer's name, address and telephone number; the name and job title or badge number of the person reporting; the address of the site; the name of the person to contact at the site; the name and address of the injured employee(s); the nature of the injury; where the injured employee(s) were moved to; other law enforcement agencies present; and a description of the accident and whether the scene or instrumentality has been alteredCal. Code Regs., tit. 8, s. 342 (c)
  • A serious injury or illness is one occurring in a place of employment or in connection with employment that requires inpatient hospitalization for other than medical observation or diagnostic testing, or in which an employee suffers an amputation, the loss of an eye, or any serious degree of permanent disfigurement; an accident on a public street or highway is excluded unless it occurred in a construction zoneCal. Code Regs., tit. 8, s. 330 (h)
  • California's reporting requirement for a serious occupational injury, illness or death has no 30-day time frame between the incident and the death, unlike the federal ruleCal/OSHA, Differences: Cal/OSHA and Fed/OSHA Recordkeeping
  • When a state, county or local fire or police agency is called to an accident involving an employee in which a serious injury, illness or death occurs, the responding agency notifies the nearest Cal/OSHA office by telephone immediately; this is in addition to the employer's own reportCal. Code Regs., tit. 8, s. 342 (b), (d)
  • For each recordable injury or illness, the employer completes a Cal/OSHA Form 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report, or an equivalent form, within seven calendar days of receiving information that it occurred, and keeps it on file for 5 years following the year to which it pertainsCal. Code Regs., tit. 8, s. 14300.29 (b) (2), (3) ยท Cal/OSHA Form 301 (Appendix C)
  • An equivalent form has the same information, is as readable and understandable to a person not familiar with it, and is completed using the same instructions as the Cal/OSHA form it replaces; records may be kept on a computer that can produce equivalent forms when neededCal. Code Regs., tit. 8, s. 14300.29 (b) (4), (5)

Serious injuries: report to Cal/OSHA within 8 hours

Any serious injury or illness, or death, connected with work is reported to Cal/OSHA as soon as practically possible and no later than 8 hours after the employer knows or should have known, or 24 hours in exigent circumstances the employer can show. The report is made by telephone or through Cal/OSHA's online mechanism.

Serious means inpatient hospitalization for more than observation or diagnostic testing, an amputation, the loss of an eye, or any serious degree of permanent disfigurement. Unlike the federal rule, there is no 30-day limit between the incident and a death. When fire or police respond to such an accident, they notify Cal/OSHA too, but that does not replace the employer's report.

What the Cal/OSHA report gives

If available: when it happened; the employer's name, address and phone; who is reporting, with job title or badge number; the site address and a contact person there; the injured employee's name and address; the nature of the injury; where the employee was taken; any other law enforcement agencies present; and a description of the accident, including whether the scene or the equipment involved was altered.

The Cal/OSHA Form 301

For each recordable case, the employer completes a Cal/OSHA Form 301, or an equivalent form with the same information that a stranger to it could read and understand, within seven calendar days, and keeps it for five years after the year it covers. Records may be kept on a computer that can produce the forms when needed.

From notes to a California incident report

Note what happened, where the employee was taken, who responded and whether anything at the scene was moved. ReportDraft adds the Form 301 items, the site contact, agencies present, whether the scene was altered and when Cal/OSHA was called, so the facts for the 8-hour report are in one place.

Common mistakes

  • Waiting until the next day to report an inpatient hospitalization to Cal/OSHA.
  • Reporting to federal OSHA instead of Cal/OSHA.
  • Not counting a serious permanent disfigurement as a serious injury.
  • Leaving out whether the scene or equipment was moved before the report.
  • Missing the seven-day window for the Cal/OSHA Form 301.

Sources

Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Next review due January 12, 2027. This page explains published rules to help you write your report. It is not legal advice; the official text linked above governs.