Reporting Fatalities and Severe Injuries questions for the CHST
CHST5 Domain 2: Emergency Preparedness, Incident Investigation, and Response (S2.5 Make notifications using established processes). 3 free questions below. Every answer quotes and links the regulation paragraph it rests on.
Regulations covered
- 29 CFR 1904.39 Reporting fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye as a result of work-related incidents to OSHA.How this section is tested
Text pulled from the eCFR, current as of 2026-10-14.
Question 1
A laborer on a framing crew is taken to a hospital after a fall from a ladder. He is admitted overnight only so that physicians can watch for delayed symptoms and run imaging scans. No treatment is given, and he is released the next morning. The safety technician is deciding whether this admission triggers a report to OSHA as an in-patient hospitalization. What is required?
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Answer: A. No report is required for this admission, because it involved only observation or diagnostic testing
The standard says an in-patient hospitalization involving only observation or diagnostic testing does not have to be reported; only hospitalizations involving care or treatment must be. The overnight stay alone, or the lost time afterward, does not change that.
Answer A rests on
29 CFR 1904.39(b)(10)(opens ecfr.gov in a new tab)“No, you do not have to report an in-patient hospitalization that involves only observation or diagnostic testing. You must only report to OSHA each in-patient hospitalization that involves care or treatment.”
Question 2
At 6:00 a.m. on a Wednesday, a laborer on your site is struck by a swinging excavator bucket and taken to a hospital. He is formally admitted as an in-patient at 9:00 a.m. that day. He is alive, and no amputation or loss of an eye occurred. Counting from the right event, what is the latest time you can make the required report to OSHA?
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Answer: B. 9:00 a.m. Thursday, which is 24 hours after the in-patient hospitalization
The employee was hospitalized as an in-patient and did not die, so the 24-hour deadline applies. That clock runs from the in-patient hospitalization, not from the incident, which puts the deadline at 9:00 a.m. Thursday. The 8-hour limit is for fatalities only.
Answer B rests on
29 CFR 1904.39(a)(2)(opens ecfr.gov in a new tab)“(2) Within twenty-four (24) hours after the in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees or an employee's amputation or an employee's loss of an eye, as a result of a work-related incident, you must report the in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye to OSHA.”
Question 3
At 6:15 p.m. on a Friday, an ironworker on your project suffers a work-related amputation and is taken to the hospital. The nearest OSHA Area Office is already closed. The site manager left a voicemail on the Area Office's answering machine and emailed the Area Office. Both included the establishment name, the incident location, and the time of the incident. The manager says the report is complete. What is the correct assessment?
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Answer: C. The report is not yet made; the company must still report by calling the 1-800-321-OSHA number or by using the reporting application on OSHA's public Web site.
When the Area Office is closed, a message on its answering machine, a fax, or an email does not count as reporting. The company must use the 800 number or the online reporting application, so the manager's contact details do not satisfy the requirement. Waiting for the office to reopen is wrong because the standard gives after-hours methods that can be used right away.
Answer C rests on
29 CFR 1904.39(b)(1)(opens ecfr.gov in a new tab)“No, if the Area Office is closed, you must report the fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye using either the 800 number or the reporting application located on OSHA's public Web site at www.osha.gov.”
10 more reporting fatalities and severe injuries questions in the full CHST bank
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