Hurt At Work
ORC 4123.84 — one year for an injury, and it used to be two
The deadline on a workplace injury claim in Ohio was shortened in 2017, from two years to one. Anything written before October of that year says two, and a great deal of what is written since repeats it, so this is a number worth checking against the date on whatever you are reading.
| What happened | The window |
|---|---|
| An injury on a date you can name | One year from that date |
| A death claim | One year |
| An occupational disease | Not on the one year clock |
| A disease arising on or after 28 September 2021 | One year from onset of disability, or six months after a work related diagnosis, whichever is later |
| A safety requirement violation filing | Kept its two years |
A medical only claim is still a claim. People who lose no time from work often assume there is nothing to file, treat it through their own health insurance, and discover a year later that the injury did not resolve and the window has closed on the only route that would have covered it.
“What is the date of injury, and how long ago was that.”
What benefits a claim pays, how a denied claim is appealed, the district and staff hearing levels, and appeals into common pleas each run under their own sections and are not on this page. Self insuring employers run a different process for reporting. Whether an injury arose out of employment, whether a condition is an occupational disease, and whether a late claim has any route left are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and injured worker representation is commonly taken on a contingency capped by statute.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORC 4123.84 — The time within which a workers' compensation claim has to be filed
- Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation — Where a workplace injury claim is filed, and what it does with one
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.