OSHA Injury Reporting Flowchart

7 years ago · by Erin Carlson · 0 comments

OSHA Injury Reporting Flowchart

Starting on Jan. 1, 2015, all employers under OSHA’s federal jurisdiction will be required to report all work-related fatalities within eight hours as well as any inpatient hospitalizations, amputations and losses of an eye within 24 hours. Previously, an employer was only expected to report to OSHA after a fatality or when three or more workers were hospitalized in the same incident.

9 years ago · by Shawna Kreis · 0 comments

FMLA Leave Request Does Not Create Automatic OSHA Recordkeeping Obligation

In Secretary of Labor v. United States Postal Service the question was whether an employee’s indication of an industrial injury on a FMLA request form triggered an OSHA recordkeeping obligation. To make a long story short, that claimant complained she was having an allergic reaction to dust produced by machinery she worked with. Her doctor provided her a note stating she was not to return to work at that machine. She eventually filled out an FMLA leave request form.

As this was going on, her complaint and that of another employee triggered an OSHA investigation. None of the inspections or analysis generated by her physician or OSHA found any kind of violation of OSHA standards or the exact allergic substance she was reacting to. The OSHA inspector was none the less concerned the company had not recorded her allergic reaction in the OSHA injury logs, a violation for which they were cited.

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission overturned a decision by the lower court and ruled due to privacy provisions associated with the FMLA, the employer was required to not share this information with the OSHA coordinator or the employee’s supervisor. The only time it would be appropriate to do so is for job accommodation purposes or emergency medical treatment.

The Commission also ruled the obligation to report an OSHA injury could come from someone’s position or other unique circumstances. According to the Commission no such facts existed to generate the obligation. Which is rather surprising given it was abundantly clear she claimed to be having allergic reactions to working around the machinery and told numerous people about it.

The court reminded employers they should separate FMLA files from the work comp or injury ones.

Take home lesson: do NOT share medical information across the organization unless that person has a “need to know”, there is an accommodation to consider, or there is some kind of emergency. Keep FMLA requests private and don’t automatically share the info with the OSHA
compliance team.

Don Phin, Esq. is VP of Strategic Business Solutions at ThinkHR, which helps companies resolve urgent workforce issues, mitigate risk and ensure HR compliance. Phin has more than three decades of experience as an HR expert, published author and speaker, and spent 17 years in employment practices litigation. For more information, visit www.ThinkHR.com.

9 years ago · by Shawna Kreis · 0 comments

OSHA 300 Log

The January deadline in which companies must turn in their OSHA 300 Log is quickly approaching. In order to meet the recordkeeping regulations imposed on many companies in a wide cross-section of industries, employers are required to collect information about injuries and illnesses that occur as well as maintain and prepare records.

Effective January 1, 2015, all employers under the jurisdiction of the OSHA will be required to report all work-related fatalities within 8 hours and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and losses of an eye within 24 hours of finding out about the incident.

What Needs to Be Recorded

OSHA regulations deem that the following must occur:

all fatalities that are work-related must be recorded
work-related injuries and illnesses that result in time away from work must be recorded
physician-diagnosed illnesses and injuries that are significant must be recorded, even if they do not result in time away from work
injuries such as an amputation, sprain, cut or fracture must be recorded. This list is not exhaustive.
illnesses – both acute and chronic – need to be recorded. These include respiratory disorders, poisonings and skin disease, and this list is not limited to only those illnesses listed.
work-related injuries – as defined by OSHA – are those in which exposure to workplace elements or an event either contributed or caused a condition or aggravated a condition or illness that was pre-existing.

Who Needs to Comply

Companies who are not in industries that are partially exempt from filing recordkeeping paperwork are required to do so. A few of these industries that are partially exempt include those that are deemed to be low hazard such as real estate, service, finance, retail and insurance. To determine if a business falls within a partially exempt industry, they are encouraged to look on the OSHA website for more information.

In addition, those companies that do not fall in one of the partially exempt industries must have at least ten employees. Each year, between February 1 and April 30, the business must display the results of the OSHA 300 Log within its workplace. All employees – both former and current – have the right to view these records and they must be provided with a copy of them by the following business day.

Source: http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2014/12/18/259283.htm