How Should a Small Business Record Injuries, Near Misses, and Damage?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 17, 2026

The short answer

Write up every injury, near miss, property damage event, and serious complaint the same day, using one simple form. Every employer must tell the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about a work-related death within 8 hours, and an inpatient hospital stay, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours. Most employers with more than 10 employees must also keep OSHA injury logs.

What this means

An incident report is a written record of something that went wrong or almost did. Record four kinds:

Injuries: to workers, customers, or anyone else
Near misses: close calls where nobody got hurt, like a ladder that slipped
Property damage: to customer property, your vehicles, or your equipment
Complaints: serious complaints about safety or damage (general service complaints go through 17.8 Complaint Handling)

OSHA rules that apply to employers:

Severe injury reporting (all employers): a work-related death within 8 hours, and an inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss within 24 hours.
Injury logs: Employers with more than 10 employees generally must keep OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301 or equal forms. OSHA says the small employer exemption applies only if you had 10 or fewer employees at all times in the past calendar year, counting part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers across the whole company. Some low hazard industries are partly exempt.
Posting: The 300A annual summary must be posted from February 1 to April 30.
Keeping records: Keep the 300, 300A, and 301 forms for 5 years after the end of the year they cover.

Made-up example: A tech at Northfield Appliance Repair scrapes a customer’s hardwood floor moving a dryer. He takes photos, writes it up on his phone before leaving, and calls the office. The owner calls the customer that day, sets a repair, and notes the cause: no floor protector. The fix: floor protectors in every truck.

Why it matters

Missing a severe injury report is a violation, and the clock starts when you learn about it.
Insurance claims need facts. Workers’ compensation and liability claims go faster with a written report made right away (see 10.3.7 Workers’ Compensation).
Near misses warn you. OSHA recommends looking into near misses because they show hazards before someone is hurt.
Patterns show up only in records. Three scraped floors in a month tells you to change a process.

Who this applies to

Every business should record incidents. The OSHA severe injury reports apply to all employers. The OSHA injury logs apply to most employers with more than 10 employees. Many states run their own OSHA plans, so check your state’s rules too.

How to do it

Make one short form: date, time, place, people involved, what happened, injuries or damage, photos, witnesses, immediate actions, and cause.
Make it easy to fill out on a phone, right after the event.
Take care of people first. Call for help if needed (see 22.9 Emergency Procedures).
Report severe injuries to OSHA within the deadlines. Put OSHA’s reporting steps in your emergency plan (see 11.9.6 Severe Injury).
Tell your insurer as your policy requires.
Find the cause and decide on a fix. Ask “why” until you reach something you can change.
Follow up with the customer or worker, and record what you did.
Keep OSHA logs if you have more than 10 employees, and post the 300A summary each February 1 to April 30.
Review all reports monthly for patterns.

What proof to keep

Completed incident reports with photos
OSHA 300, 300A, and 301 forms, if required, for 5 years
Records of any OSHA severe injury reports
Insurance claim numbers and letters
Notes on fixes and follow ups

Keep injury records private. They can include medical details.

Common mistakes

Only writing up injuries, never near misses or damage.
Waiting days to write it down, so details are lost.
Not knowing the 8 and 24 hour rules until it’s too late.
Blaming instead of fixing. Workers stop reporting if every report leads to blame.
Counting only full-time staff when deciding if you’re under 10 employees.
Arguing with the customer in a public review before you’ve looked at the facts (see 14.6.4 Negative Review Escalation).

When to get help from a pro

Insurance agent: for claim steps and deadlines. Safety consultant or OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program: for setting up logs. Attorney: after a serious injury or a large damage claim. Questions to ask:

Do I have to keep OSHA injury logs, or is my industry partly exempt?
What does my insurer need from me after an incident, and by when?
Does my state plan have different reporting rules?

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short note. For example, how a client handled a property damage incident well and what the customer’s review said afterward, or how SiteSmarty would record a problem on a client project.]

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: building the SiteSmarty incident report form and where reports are stored]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: the blank incident report form]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

When do I have to report an injury to OSHA? A work-related death within 8 hours. An inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss within 24 hours. This applies to all employers.

Do small businesses have to keep an OSHA 300 log? Generally not if you had 10 or fewer employees at all times in the past calendar year. Some industries are partly exempt no matter the size.

Should I record near misses? Yes. They’re not OSHA log entries, but OSHA recommends looking into them because they reveal hazards.

How long do I keep injury records? OSHA forms 300, 300A, and 301 are kept 5 years after the end of the year they cover.

Audit check

Question: Are injuries, near misses, property damage, and serious complaints written up promptly, with causes and fixes, and are OSHA reporting and log rules followed?
Pass looks like: Completed reports for every event, fixes recorded, OSHA logs kept if required, and severe injuries reported on time.
Fail looks like: No reports, only injuries recorded, missing OSHA logs for a business over 10 employees, late severe injury reports.
Evidence to collect: Incident reports, OSHA forms, posted 300A photo, insurer correspondence.

Where this fits

Do this first: 11.4.4 Equipment Inspection, 11.4.1 Hazard Identification

Do this next: 11.4.7 Stop-Work Procedure

Sources

OSHA, "Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements" (checked October 17, 2026)
OSHA, "Detailed Guidance for OSHA's Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rule" (checked October 17, 2026)
OSHA, 29 CFR 1904.32, "Annual summary" (checked October 17, 2026)
OSHA, 29 CFR 1904.33, "Retention and updating" (checked October 17, 2026)
OSHA, "Safety Management: Hazard Identification and Assessment" (checked October 17, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.