OSHA INJURY AND ILLNESS RECORDKEEPING

Dave Stolp

National Safety Council, Nebraska

Let’s talk OSHA recordkeeping .

. .

WARNING: DO NOT MIXOSHA RECORDABILITY AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

• Workers’ Compensation determinations do

NOT impact OSHA recordability.

Some cases may be OSHA recordable and

compensable.

Some cases may be compensable, but not

OSHA recordable.

Some cases may be OSHA recordable, but

not compensable.

1904.4 – Recording Criteria

Covered employers must record each fatality,

injury or illness that:

– Is work-related, and

– Is a new case, and

– Meets one or more of the criteria contained in

sections 1904.7 through 1904.11

OSHA INJURY AND ILLNESS RECORDKEEPING

5 STEP PROCESS

Did the employeeexperience an

injury or illness?

Is the injury orillness work-related?

Is the injury orillness a new case?

Does the injury or illness meetthe general criteria or the

application to specific cases?

Record the Injury or illness.

YES

YES

YES

YES

Step 1:Did the employee

experience an injury or illness?

Definition

An injury OR illness is an abnormal condition or disorder. Injuries include cases such as, but not limited to, a cut, fracture, sprain, or amputation. Illnesses include both acute and chronic illnesses, such as, but not limited to, a skin disease, respiratory disorder, or poisoning.

Step 2:Is the injury or

illness work-related?

Determination of work-relatedness

You must consider an injury or illness to be work-related if an identifiable event

or exposure (i.e., discernable cause) in the work environment either caused or

contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing

injury or illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses

resulting from events or exposures in the work environment unless an

exception specifically applies.

1904.5 – Work Environment

• The work environment is defined as the

establishment and other locations where one or more

employees are working or present as a condition of

employment

• The work environment includes not only physical

locations, but also the equipment or materials used

by employees during the course of their work

The following situations are not work-related:

1. There is no discernable cause. Injury/illness did not result from event/exposure at work

3. The injury or illness involves signs or symptoms that surface at work but result solely from a non-work related event or exposure that occurs outside the work environment.

4. The injury or illness results solely from voluntary participation in a wellness program or in a medical, fitness, or recreational activity such as blood donation, physical examination, flu shot, exercise class, racquetball, or baseball.

5. The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee eating, drinking, or preparing food or drink for personal consumption (whether bought on the employer’s premises or brought in). For example, if the employee is injured by choking on a sandwich while in the employer’s establishment, the case would not be considered work-related.

2. At the time of the injury or illness, the employee was present in the work environment as a member of the general public rather than as an employee.

Note: If the employee is made ill by ingesting food contaminated by workplace contaminants (such as lead), or gets food poisoning from food supplied by the employer, the case would be considered work-related.

6. The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks(unrelated to their employment) at the establishment outside of the employee’s assigned working hours.

7. The injury or illness is solely the result of personal grooming, self medication for a non-work-related condition, or is intentionally self-inflicted.

8. The injury or illness is caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work.

10. The illness is a mental illness. Mental illness will not be considered work-related unless the employee voluntarily provides the employer with an opinion from a physician or other licensed health care professional with appropriate training and experience (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, etc.) stating that the employee has a mental illness that is work-related.

9. The illness is the common cold or flu (Note: contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, hepatitis A, or plague are considered work-related if the employee is infected at work).

The following situations also are not work-related:

1904.5 – Work RelationshipPre-Existing Conditions

A “Pre-existing” condition - an injury or illness that resulted solely from a non work- related event or exposure that occurred outside of the work environment

A pre-existing injury or illness is significantly aggravated when the following cases would not have occurred but for an event or exposure in the work environment:

Death

Loss of Consciousness

Days Away, Days Restricted or Job Transfer

Medical Treatment

Step 3:Is the injury or

illness a new case?

Determination of a new case

Consider an injury or illness a “new case” if the employee has not previously experienced a recorded injury or illness of the same type that affects the same part of the body,

OR the

employee previously experienced a recorded injury or illness of the same type that affected the same part of body but had recovered completely (all signs and symptoms had disappeared) from the previous injury or illness and an event or exposure in the work environment caused the signs or symptoms to reappear.

Step 4:Does the injury or illnessmeet the general criteria

or the application to specific cases?

General Recording Criteria

You must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recordingcriteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.

DAY COUNTS

Count the number of calendar days the employee was away from work or restricted/transferred (include weekend days, holidays, vacation days, etc.)

May cap day count at 180 days away from work and/or days of restricted/job transfer

May stop day count if employee leaves company for a reason unrelated to the injury or illness. Must estimateday count when employee leaves company due to reasons related to the injury and illness

Restricted Work Activity

• Restriction/transfer limited to day of injury/illness onset notrecordable-includes employee being sent home during shift.

• Production of fewer goods or services not considered RWA

• Vague restrictions from physician or PLHCP (e.g., “light duty” or “take it easy for a week”) are to be recorded as RWA if no further information is obtain.

• A case is not recordable if the employee experiences minor musculoskeletal discomfort, a health care professional determines that the employee is fully able to perform all of his or her routine job functions, and the employer assigns a work restriction to that employee for the purpose of preventing a more serious condition from developing. Once a case becomes recordable under section 1904.7 general recording criteria, the discomfort is no longer minor.

1904.7 – Job Transfer

• Injured or ill employee assigned to job other than

regular job for part of the day

• Do not include day of injury/illness onset

• record job transfer day (s) in RWA column

• Stop count when transfer permanent-- BUT MUST

COUNT AT LEAST ONE DAY

Medical Treatment VS First Aid

Medical treatment DOES NOT include:

1. Visits to a physician or other licensed health care professional

solely for observation or counseling only

2. Diagnostic procedures such as x-rays and blood tests, including

administration of prescription medications used solely for

diagnostic purposes (e.g., eye drops to dilate pupils)

3. First Aid

- Using temporary immobilization devices while transporting an accident

victim is First Aid

- Using eye patches is First Aid

- Drilling a nail is First Aid

Medical Treatment VS First Aid – cont’d.

- Removing foreign bodies from the eye using only irrigation or a cotton

swab is First Aid

- Removing splinters or foreign material from areas other than the eye by

irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs or other simple means is First Aid

- Using finger guards is First Aid

- Using massages is First Aid

First Aid list in regulation is comprehensive. Any other procedure is medical treatment.

- Drinking fluids for relief of heat stress is First Aid

Medical Treatment VS First Aid – cont’d.

- 1 dose prescription med is Medical Treatment

- Over the Counter non-prescription med at non-prescription strength is First Aid

OTC med at prescription strength is Medical Treatment

Ibuprofen (such as Advil™) - Greater than 467 mg

Diphenhydramine (such as Benadryl™) – Greater than 50 mg

Naproxen Sodium (such as Aleve™) – Greater than 220 mg

Ketoprofen (such as Orudus KT™) – Greater than 25 mg

- Any number of hot-cold treatments is First Aid

- Using wound coverings such as Band-Aids; Butterfly bandage/Steri-Strip (the

only kind of wound closures) are First Aid

- Cleaning, flushing or soaking wounds on the surface of the skin is First Aid

- Administering tetanus immunizations is First Aid

- Using any non-rigid means of support, as elastic bandages, wraps, back belts,

etc. is First Aid

Significant diagnosed Injury or Illness that is automatically recordable if work related:

1. Fracture

2. Punctured ear drum

3. Cancer

4. Chronic irreversible disease (e.g., silicosis)

Did the employeeexperience an

injury or illness?

Is the injury orillness work-related?

Is the injury orillness a new case?

Does the injury or illness meetthe general criteria or the

application to specific cases?

Record the Injury or illness.

YES

YES

YES

YES

1904.8 – Bloodborne Pathogens

• Record all work-related needlesticks and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person’s blood or other potentially infectious material (includes human bodily fluids, tissues and organs; other materials infected with HIV or HBV such as laboratory cultures)

• Record splashes or other exposures to blood or other potentially infectious material if it results in diagnosis of a bloodborne disease or meets the general recording criteria

Relationship to Bloodborne Pathogen Standard

• Employers may elect to use the OSHA 300 and 301 forms to

meet the sharps injury log requirements, provided two

conditions are met:

1 The employer must enter the type and brand of the

device on either the 300 or 301 form.

2 The employer must maintain the records in a way

that segregates sharps injuries from other types of

work-related injuries and illnesses, or allows sharps

injuries to be easily separated.

1904.9 – Medical Removal

• If an employee is medically removed under the medical surveillance requirements of an OSHA standard, you must record the case

• The case is recorded as either one involving days away from work or days of restricted work activity

• If the case involves voluntary removal below the removal levels required by the standard, the case need not be recorded

Conditions For Hearing Loss Recordability

1904.10

OSHA’s recordkeeping rule requires the employer to record all work-

related hearing loss cases that meet BOTH of the following conditions

on the same audiometric test for either ear:

1. The employee has experienced a Standard Threshold Shift

(STS) – 10dB or greater from the most current baseline.

2. The employee’s total hearing level is 25 dB or more above

audiometric zero (averaged at 2000, 3000, & 4000 Hz) in the

same ear(s) as the STS.

Use this ‘decision tree’ to determine whether the results of a audiometric exam

given on or after January 1, 2003 reveal a recordable STS.

Is the employee’s overall hearing level at 25dB or

more above audiometric zero averaged at 2000, 3000

and 4000 Hz in the affected ear(s)?

Record on the OSHA 300 Log,and check the column

“All other Illnesses” **

Is the hearing loss work-related?

Has the employee suffered a STS (an

average 10dB or more loss relative to the most current baseline

audiogram averaged at 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz) in one or both ears

according to the provisions of the OSHA noise standard (§1910.95)? *

Note: In all cases, use the most current baseline to determine recordability as you would to calculate

a STS under the hearing conservation provisions of the noise standard (§1910.95). If an STS occurs

in only one ear, you may only revise the baseline audiogram for that ear.

* The audiogram may be adjusted for presbycusis (aging) as set out in 1910.95.

* A separate hearing loss column on the OSHA 300 Log beginning in Calendar year 2004.

Do not record

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

.

1904.11 - Tuberculosis

• Record a case where an employee is exposed at work to someone with a known case of active tuberculosis, and subsequently develops a TB infection

• A case is not recordable when:

– The worker is living in a household with a person who is diagnosed with active TB

– The Public Health Department has identified the worker as a contact of an individual with active TB

– A medical investigation shows the employee’s infection was caused by exposure away from work

Record all work-related MSD cases that meet any of the general

recording criteria.

Depending upon the nature of the event or exposure that causes the

case you should record these cases as an injury or an “all other

illness”

Musculoskeletal Disorders

1904.29 - Forms

• OSHA Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

• OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

• OSHA Form 301, Injury and Illness Incident Report

1904.29 - Forms

• Employers must enter each recordable case

on the forms within 7 calendar days of

receiving information that a recordable case

occurred

• An equivalent form has the same

information, is as readable and

understandable, and uses the same

instructions as the OSHA form it replaces

• Forms can be kept on a computer as long as

they can be produced when they are needed

(i.e., meet the access provisions of 1904.35

and 1904.40)

1904.29 – Privacy Protection

• Do not enter the name of an

employee on the OSHA Form

300 for “privacy concern

cases”

• Enter “privacy case” in the

name column

• Keep a separate confidential

list of the case numbers and

employee names

1904.29 – Privacy Protection

• Privacy concern cases are:

– An injury or illness to an intimate body part or

reproductive system

– An injury or illness resulting from sexual assault

– Mental illness

– HIV infection, hepatitis, tuberculosis

– Needlestick and sharps injuries that are

contaminated with another person’s blood or

other potentially infectious material

– Employee voluntarily requests to keep name off

for other illness cases

1904.29 – Privacy Protection

• Employer may use discretion in describing the case if employee can be identified

• If you give the forms to people not authorized by the rule, you must remove the names first

– Exceptions for:

• Auditor/consultant,

• Workers’ compensation or other insurance

• Public health authority or law enforcement agency

1904.32 – Annual Summary• Federal establishments certification

– The senior establishment management official

– The head of the Agency for which the senior establishment management official works, or

– Any management official who is in the direct chain of command between the senior establishment management official and the head of the agency head

• Must post for 3-month period from February 1 to April 30 of the year following the year covered by the summary

1904.32 – Annual Summary

• Review OSHA Form 300 for

completeness and accuracy,

correct deficiencies

• Complete OSHA Form 300A

• Certify summary

• Post summary

1904.33 – Retention

and Updating

• Retain forms for 5 years following the year

that they cover

• Update the OSHA Form 300 during that

period

• Need not update the OSHA Form 300A or

OSHA Form 301

1904.35 – Employee Involvement

• Must provide limited access to injury and illness

records to employees, former employees and

their personal and authorized representatives

– Provide copy of OSHA Form 300 by end of next

business day

– Provide copy of OSHA Form 301 to employee,

former employee or personal representative by end

of next business day

– Provide copies of OSHA Form 301 to authorized

representative within 7 calendar days. Provide only

“Information about the case” section of form

1904.39 – Fatality/Catastrophe Reporting

• Report orally within 8 hours any work-

related fatality or incident involving 3 or

more in-patient hospitalizations

• Do not need to report highway or public

street motor vehicle accidents (outside of a

construction work zone)

• Do not need to report commercial airplane,

train, subway or bus accidents

For More Help

• OSHA’s Recordkeeping Page-

www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/index.html

• OSHA Regional Recordkeeping

Coordinators

QUESTIONS

dstolp@safenebraska.org