OSHA FURTHER CLARIFIES EMPLOYER REQUIREMENT TO RECORD AND REPORT COVID-19 CASES
In an earlier letter to OSHA leadership, Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), along with their partners on the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), requested that OSHA re-evaluate its decision to treat cases of employees contracting COVID-19 as recordable incidents.
In the letter to OSHA, industry representatives recommended that only healthcare providers, and similar professions, should be required to report these cases on their logs because they are routinely in direct contact with people who have confirmed cases and are at greatest risk.
OSHA’s new temporary guidance for recording cases of COVID-19 states that in areas where there is ongoing community transmission, employers — other than those in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting, and law enforcement services), and correctional institutions — may have difficulty making determinations about whether workers who contracted COVID-19 did so due to exposures at work.
OSHA’s temporary guidance goes on to say that employers of workers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations and correctional institutions must continue to make work-relatedness determinations pursuant to 29 CFR 1904. Until further notice, however, OSHA will not enforce its record-keeping requirements to require other employers to make the same work-relatedness determinations for COVID-19 cases, except where: (1) There is objective evidence that a COVID-19 case may be work-related; and (2) The evidence was reasonably available to the employer.
Read OSHA’s “Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” notice here: OSHA’s Temporary Guidance
IS AN EMPLOYEE CONFIRMED WITH COVID-19 RECORDABLE ON THE OSHA 300 LOG?
While OSHA specifically exempts employers from recording incidents of employees contracting common colds and the flu in the workplace, COVID-19 is not exempt.
OSHA’s dedicated web page on the pandemic provides guidance for preventing occupational exposure to the rapidly spreading virus. View OSHA’s web page on COVID-19 here: OSHA COVID-19
Here is what OSHA has specifically said on the topic:
COVID-19 can be a recordable illness if a worker is infected as a result of performing their work-related duties. However, employers are only responsible for recording cases of COVID-19 if all of the following are met:
- The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19
- The case is work-related, as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5; and
- The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR 1904.7 (e.g. medical treatment beyond first-aid, days away from work)
To see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) information on persons under investigation and presumptive positive and laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, visit: CDC’s web page
The Department of Labor has released three animated videos to provide quick tips on social distancing, disinfecting workplaces, and industry risk factors to keep workers safe from COVID-19. To view the “Quick Safety Tips” videos, click the link below for each topic:
Social Distancing
Disinfecting Workplaces
Industry Risk Factors
Credit to: Associated General Contractors and OSHA