From the desk of Adriane Harrison at Printing United Alliance:
OSHA Recording and Reporting information as it relates to COVID-19 has been very confusing. You may have seen the video – linked here – that Gary Jones and I did to explain a company’s responsibilities under these provisions.Finally, OSHA has provided a little bit of updated guidance about how to handle these situations. Our video remains accurate, but I will summarize the process here for your convenience. You may want to flag this for future reference.  You must report:
  • An in-patient hospitalization for COVID-19 that has occurred with 24 hours of a work-related incident (here, exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case in the workplace). This must be reported within 24 hours of the hospitalization.
  • A work-related fatality that has occurred within 30 days of a work-related incident (again, exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case in the workplace). This must be reported within 8 hours of the fatality.
You must record:
  • Confirmed COVID-19 cases;
  • if work-related (see below);
  • and involves one or more of the general recording criteria (detailed here: https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.7)
  • Death
  • Days away from work
  • Restricted work or transfer to another job
  • Medical treatment beyond first aid
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Significant injury or illness even if it doesn’t meet the other criteria.
An employer determines work-relatedness based on a reasonable investigation: Here is a summary of what is required as specified in the guidance, which can be found here: https://www.osha.gov/memos/2020-05-19/revised-enforcement-guidance-recording-cases-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19. The guidance goes into much more detail.
  • How the employee believes COVID-19 was contracted;
  • What work and outside-of-work activities did the employee have that may have resulted in COVID-19 exposure;
  • Are there any instances of co-workers that have confirmed cases of COVID-19?
  • Was the employee routinely exposed to the public?
  • What is the degree of community spread of COVID-19?