E M E R G E N C Y T E M P O R A R Y S T A N D A R D

Reporting COVID-19 Fatalities and 

In-Patient Hospitalizations to OSHA

OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requires employers 

to report all work-related COVID-19 fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations 

to OSHA. This document explains the reporting requirements. 

The ETS requires employers to report each 

work-related COVID-19 fatality or in-patient 

hospitalization of any employee, regardless of the

amount of time between the exposure to COVID-19 

in the work environment and the death or in-patient 

hospitalization. Employers must report each 

employee COVID-19 fatality to OSHA within 8 hours 

of learning about the fatality. Employers must also 

report each employee COVID-19 in-patient 

hospitalization to OSHA within 24 hours of learning 

about the in-patient hospitalization. 

These requirements are similar to the OSHA

requirements for reporting fatalities and

hospitalizations under 29 CFR 1904.39. The only 

difference is that under the ETS, employers are 

required to report a COVID-19 in-patient 

hospitalization or fatality that occurs at any time

after a work-related incident (i.e., exposure). Under 

1904.39, employers are only required to report 

fatalities that occur within 30 days of the workrelated incident and in-patient hospitalizations that 

occur within 24 hours of the work-related incident

(see 1904.39(b)(6)). Those limits do not apply to the 

ETS’s reporting requirements. 

The ETS’s reporting requirements apply to all 

employers covered by the COVID-19 ETS. Where an 

employer is required to report a fatality or in-patient 

hospitalization under both 1904.39 and the ETS, a 

single report will fulfill both requirements.

Employers can report COVID-19 fatalities 

and in-patient hospitalizations by:

 Calling the OSHA Area Office that is nearest to 

the site of the incident (see 

www.osha.gov/contactus/bystate);

 Calling the OSHA toll-free telephone number, 

1-800-321-OSHA (1-800-321-6742); or

 Submitting information through OSHA's 

website at www.osha.gov.

When reporting a COVID-19 fatality 

or in-patient hospitalization, the 

employer should have the following 

information available:

 The employer’s business name;

 The name of the deceased or hospitalized 

employee;

 The time and location of the work-related 

incident (i.e., exposure) that led to the fatality 

or in-patient hospitalization, if known;

 The type of reportable event (i.e., fatality or 

in-patient hospitalization);

 The number of employees who suffered 

a fatality or in-patient hospitalization 

(if applicable);

 A brief description of the incident; and

 The name and contact information of the

employer’s designated contact person.
How to determine if an employee 

contracted COVID-19 at work?

A key component of the requirement to report a 

fatality or hospitalization is for the employer to 

make a determination as to whether the COVID-19 

case is work-related. In order to determine 

whether the exposure occurred in the work 

environment or occurred away from work, the 

employer must evaluate the employee's work 

duties and environment. To address this issue the 

employer must follow the criteria in OSHA’s 

recordkeeping regulation at 29 CFR 1904.5 for 

determining work-relatedness. 

Under 29 CFR 1904.5 Determination of workrelatedness, an employer must consider an injury or 

illness to be work-related if an event or exposure in 

the work environment either caused or contributed 

to the resulting condition. If the COVID-19 exposure 

event likely occurred within the employee’s work 

environment, and the subsequent illness led to 

either death or in-patient hospitalization, reporting 

of this incident would be required. 

An employer is not required to report a fatality or 

hospitalization if the employer determines that 

exposure to COVID-19 clearly did not occur in the 

workplace. For example, if an employee had been 

on vacation when the case of COVID-19 was 

contracted, this would be an indication that this 

was not a workplace exposure event.

Because an employee can contract COVID-19 from 

an exposure at work or outside of the workplace, 

an employer whose employee has been 

hospitalized or is deceased due to COVID-19 needs 

to consider the following: 

 The type, extent, and duration of contact the 

employee had at the work environment with 

other people, particularly the general public;

 Physical distancing and other controls that 

impact the likelihood of work-related exposure;

 The extent and duration of time spent in a 

shared indoor space with limited ventilation; and

 Whether the employee had work-related 

contact with anyone who exhibited signs and 

symptoms of COVID-19.

OSHA expects that healthcare employers will 

typically report in-patient hospitalizations and 

fatalities resulting from confirmed cases of 

COVID-19 among employees working in areas where 

suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients are 

treated absent evidence suggesting the exposure 

occurred outside of the workplace. For example, if a 

nurse is working on a hospital floor dedicated to the 

treatment and care of COVID-19 patients, and there 

is an outbreak among co-workers, it is likely that a 

COVID-19 illness contracted by the nurse is workrelated, absent evidence of an outside exposure.

This document is intended to provide information about the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard. The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires 

employers to comply with safety and health standards promulgated by OSHA or by a state with an OSHA-approved state plan. However, this document

is not itself a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations.

1-800-321-OSHA (6742) | TTY 1-877-889-5627 | www.osha.gov

OSHA 4129-06 2021