After a Serious Workplace Injury: The First 24 Hours

In the first hour, get the injured worker care, make the scene safe, and leave it as it is. Within 8 hours, report to Cal/OSHA if the injury is serious; within one working day, give the worker a claim form; within five days, file your Employer's Report with your carrier. Everything else on this checklist exists to protect those four steps and the records you will be asked for next.

Just had a serious injury? Call 949-954-6581. We will stay on the phone while you work through the list below.

The first hour: care, control, preserve

1. Get medical care. Call 911 for anything beyond first aid. Send someone with the ambulance or to the hospital so you know where the worker was taken; Cal/OSHA will ask. Your site emergency plan should already say how; see our emergency medical services plan page.
2. Stop the exposure. Shut down the equipment, barricade the area, and move other workers clear. Title 8 section 3203(a)(6) requires your program to remove exposed employees from an imminent hazard that cannot be immediately abated. (8 CCR 3203)
3. Preserve the scene. After the area is safe, do not clean up, repair, or put equipment back in service. Cal/OSHA can issue an Order to Preserve the worksite or physical evidence during an accident investigation. (Guide to Cal/OSHA) The report itself must also say whether the scene or equipment has been altered.
4. Photograph everything. Wide shots, close shots, the equipment, the tie off point, the ladder label, the weather, the lighting. Date and time each file.
5. Name one person in charge. One person makes the calls and keeps the log. Everyone else runs the site.

By hour 8: report to Cal/OSHA

6. Decide whether it is reportable. A death, an inpatient admission for treatment, an amputation, the loss of an eye, a serious degree of permanent disfigurement, or a silicosis diagnosis is reportable within 8 hours of when you knew or with diligent inquiry would have known. Use the four question check on our serious injury reporting page.
7. Call the district office. Use the lookup on Cal/OSHA's Report a Work-Related Accident page. Email is allowed if you cannot call. Log the time, the name of the person you reached, and what you told them.
8. Stick to the facts in the report. Section 342(c) asks for the time and date, the site address, the injured employee, the nature of the injury, where the worker was taken, other agencies present, and a description of the accident. (8 CCR 342) Describe what happened. Do not guess at cause or fault on the phone.
9. Tell the general contractor or host employer. On a multi-employer site, the controlling employer will be part of the inspection. Our multi-employer worksite page explains who gets cited.

By hour 24: the worker, the carrier, the records

The claim form

10. Give the worker a DWC 1 claim form within one working day after the injury is reported. The Division of Workers' Compensation lists the employer's duties: provide the claim form within one working day, return a completed copy to the employee within one working day of receipt, forward the claim form with your report of injury to the claims administrator within one working day of receipt, and authorize up to $10,000 in appropriate medical treatment within one working day of receiving the claim. (DWC employer FAQ) If the worker is in the hospital, mail it or deliver it to the family.
11. Date stamp the completed form the day you get it back, keep a copy, and send the carrier its copy the same day. Those dates start the claims clock and settle any later dispute about when it started.
12. Provide the Medical Provider Network notice if your coverage uses one, and arrange the initial evaluation with an MPN physician, as the DWC FAQ requires.

The carrier

13. Call your carrier or claims administrator today, then file the Employer's Report of Occupational Injury or Illness (Form 5020). The form states that California law requires employers to report within five days of knowledge every occupational injury or illness that results in lost time beyond the date of the incident or requires medical treatment beyond first aid. (8 CCR 14001)
14. Tell your broker so it is aware of a claim that may affect coverage or the account.

The records to secure now

15. Pull your recordkeeping file. When an authorized government representative asks for the records kept under the Title 8 recordkeeping article, you must provide access within four business hours. (8 CCR 14300.40) Locate your Form 300, 300A, and 301 files today.
16. Pull your IIPP records. Section 3203(b) requires records of scheduled and periodic inspections and documentation of safety training, each kept at least one year. Find the injured worker's training record and the last inspection of that area. Our IIPP requirements guide lists what should be there.
17. Secure the rest. Tailgate meeting sign-in sheets, the daily report, the JHA or pre-task plan, equipment inspection logs, rental and maintenance records, the subcontract, and any site video. Stop any automatic deletion of camera footage.
18. Collect witness names and contact details. Get names, phone numbers, and employers of everyone who saw the incident. Keep it to that for now; decide with counsel how any internal statements will be taken.
19. Start your own investigation file. Keep it factual: timeline, photos, measurements, and the records above. The document request that usually follows is covered in our Cal/OSHA document request guide.

What not to do

• Do not wait to find out how bad it is. The 8 hour clock runs on what you knew or should have found out, not on the final diagnosis.
• Do not clean up or repair before you know whether Cal/OSHA will want to see the scene.
• Do not write new documents dated in the past. A missing training record is a problem. A backdated one is a much larger one.
• Do not tell employees not to talk to Cal/OSHA, and do not suggest consequences for talking. Reporting an injury and talking with the inspector are protected activity. The Labor Commissioner's Office takes retaliation complaints from employees who report a work-related injury or file a safety complaint. (Labor Commissioner)
• Do not discipline, drug test outside your written policy, or talk about termination in the first days. Those decisions belong with employment counsel. Our return to work guide explains why.
• Do not ask the carrier for the worker's chart. The claims administrator may share only the diagnosis, the treatment, and what you need to modify work duties.
• Do not speculate in writing about fault in texts, emails, or group chats. Assume everything written this week will be read by someone else.

After day one

Expect a Cal/OSHA inspection. After a reported serious injury it is the normal next step, and our post-accident investigation guide walks through it. The general mechanics of an inspection are covered in what to expect during a Cal/OSHA inspection.

Common questions

Who gives the injured worker the claim form, the employer or the carrier?

The employer. The Division of Workers' Compensation says the employer must provide a claim form within one working day after the work-related injury or illness is reported. The carrier supplies the forms, but the duty to hand one over is yours.

Does the claim form deadline wait until the worker asks for one?

No. The one working day clock runs from when the injury is reported to you, not from a request. Hand it over or mail it even if the worker says it is not necessary.

Is the Form 5020 the same as the Cal/OSHA report?

No. The Form 5020 goes to your carrier within five days of knowledge. The Cal/OSHA report for a serious injury is a separate phone call or email to the district office within 8 hours.

Can I fix the hazard right away?

Make the area safe for everyone else first. Beyond that, photograph and document before you change anything, and hold off on repairs or cleanup until you know whether Cal/OSHA will issue an Order to Preserve.

Should I send the worker to a doctor I choose?

Emergency care comes first. After that, follow your carrier's instructions and any Medical Provider Network rules that apply to your policy, and give the worker the MPN notice.

For help running this list on a live incident, book a call or see our services.

M Squared Safety Solutions, Inc., 981 Calle Negocio Suite 200, San Clemente, CA 92673, 949-954-6581. This page describes what the regulations and statutes say as of September 2026. It is not legal advice; for decisions about a specific employee or citation, involve employment or OSHA defense counsel.