# employee medical records — How long federal regulations require records to be kept: retention periods, what starts the clock, and who they bind

For employee medical records, regulation is 29 CFR 1910.1020; regulator / programme is OSHA; retention period is at least the duration of employment plus thirty (30) years; who it binds is each employer; exceptions and notes is health insurance claims records maintained separately, certain first aid records, and medical records of employees who have worked for less than (1) year (if provided to the employee at termination) need not be retained; chest X-ray films shall be preserved in their original state, recorded from its source on 2026-08-11.

- **Regulation:** 29 CFR 1910.1020 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Regulator / programme:** OSHA _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Record type:** employee medical records _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Retention period:** at least the duration of employment plus thirty (30) years _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Who it binds:** each employer _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Exceptions and notes:** health insurance claims records maintained separately, certain first aid records, and medical records of employees who have worked for less than (1) year (if provided to the employee at termination) need not be retained; chest X-ray films shall be preserved in their original state

## What the source says

> ( 1 ) Unless a specific occupational safety and health standard provides a different period of time, each employer shall assure the preservation and retention of records as follows: ( i ) Employee medical records. The medical record for each employee shall be preserved and maintained for at least the duration of employment plus thirty (30) years, except that the following types of records need not be retained for any specified period:

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-XVII/part-1910/subpart-Z/section-1910.1020

Last verified: 2026-08-11. Review by: 2027-08-11.
Part of [How long federal regulations require records to be kept: retention periods, what starts the clock, and who they bind](https://referencesource.org/record-retention-periods-federal/).