What to Do When Someone Dies at Work

The First Hours Matter More Than You Realize

When you get the call that someone you love has died at work, your brain will try to shut down. That is a normal physiological response to traumatic shock, and it is also the exact moment when the employer's insurance carrier and risk management team begin protecting corporate interests — not yours.

Here is what needs to happen in the first 48 hours, broken into manageable steps. You do not need to do all of this yourself. Assign tasks to a trusted friend or family member who can think clearly while you cannot.

Within the First 24 Hours

Get the basics documented. Write down (or have someone write down) the responding officer's name and badge number, the police incident or log number, and the hospital where your family member was taken. These details get harder to retrieve later.

Tell the employer not to touch the scene. The accident site is potential evidence. Equipment, camera footage, safety gear, and machine data logs all matter. A phone call is fine for now, but a written demand (email or letter) should follow within 48 hours. This is called a spoliation of evidence letter, and it puts the employer on notice to preserve potentially relevant evidence.

Do not sign anything the employer offers you. In the immediate aftermath, some employers or their representatives will present paperwork — sometimes framed as "helping with funeral costs" or "releasing personal belongings." These documents may contain liability waivers buried in the language. Nothing needs to be signed today.

Contact the medical examiner's office. Workplace fatalities are generally referred to the medical examiner or coroner, but local rules determine which office has jurisdiction. Ask about the timeline for autopsy results and how to obtain a "pending" death certificate, which can be used for funeral arrangements and may let you begin estate administration; check with the probate court about its requirements.

Within 48 Hours

Send a formal evidence preservation demand. This written letter goes to the employer's executive team and risk management department. It should specifically request preservation of potentially relevant evidence such as CCTV footage, equipment data logs, internal communications about the task or hazards, and the deceased's personal protective equipment. Once sent, the employer is on notice of the preservation request.

Contact the bank. If your family member had direct deposit, call the bank to halt any pending deposits. A deposit initiated after the date of death can freeze the entire account, trapping funds in probate limbo.

Begin gathering documents. Consider ordering eight to ten certified copies of the death certificate, then confirm which agencies require an original and which will accept a photocopy. Also request the employer's internal incident report, recent pay stubs, and any employee benefits enrollment forms.

File the workers' compensation death benefit claim. Filing deadlines vary by state. Filing immediately helps establish your claim and can avoid missing a short deadline. The sooner you file, the sooner weekly payments can begin.

Within the First Week

Contact the OSHA Area Office. Under the updated OSHA Instruction CPL 02-00-171 (effective August 2024), the agency has a process for periodic communication with the next of kin during the fatality investigation. Ask for the Area Director's contact information and the next planned update. You can also contact OSHA's National Family Liaison for additional support.

Identify whether third parties contributed to the accident. Workers' compensation benefits are limited — they replace only a portion of lost wages and cap funeral expenses. But if a defective piece of equipment, a negligent subcontractor, or a property owner's failure contributed to the death, your family may have a separate civil claim with remedies beyond the workers' comp benefit schedule. Available damages and any limits depend on state law and the facts of the claim.

Assign family roles. Grief impairs executive function severely. Designate one person as the legal and regulatory contact, another to handle finances and employer communications, and a third to manage media and community support. The primary griever should be shielded from bureaucratic demands as much as possible.

What Not to Do

• Do not let the employer return personal belongings without a written inventory. Items returned in a box without documentation cannot be verified later if something is missing.
• Do not agree to cremation without legal advice if you suspect employer negligence or equipment failure. Cremation eliminates the possibility of an independent second autopsy.
• Do not post details about the accident on social media. Anything posted publicly can be used by the employer's legal team. Secure the deceased's social media accounts as well.
• Do not assume workers' comp is all you can get. The exclusive remedy rule has important exceptions for third-party claims, intentional employer misconduct, and failure to carry insurance.

Getting Organized When Nothing Makes Sense

The After a Workplace Accident Death guide consolidates every checklist, deadline, communication script, and document template into a single toolkit designed for families in crisis. It covers the first 48 hours through the entire first year — OSHA investigations, workers' comp claims, insurance disputes, and the emotional recovery that runs underneath all of it.

You should not have to piece this together from law firm ads and government PDFs while you are in shock. The information exists, but it is scattered across dozens of sources, and right now your cognitive bandwidth is the scarcest resource you have.