What’s new with the new OSHA record-keeping standard

What’s new with the new
OSHA record-keeping standard

The new standard clarifies gray areas in the old record-keeping standard and aims to improve data to help identify dangers in the workplace

The new OSHA record-keeping standard outlined in 29 CFR Part 1904 went into effect January 1, 2002. The standard affects every construction firm with 10 or more employees and aims to clarify and simplify record-keeping rules, says Bill Coulehan, OSHA Region 5 compliance assistance specialist. He recently outlined the important changes in the new standard at a workshop sponsored by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs Consultation Program and the Construction Safety Council.

“The purpose of the new OSHA record-keeping standard is to help everyone keep records the same way, which will help improve data. It also offers greater employee privacy,” he says.

This article highlights many of the changes in the record-keeping standard, but is no replacement for taking some time and reading the 14-page document. “The new standard is written in a question-and-answer format. It should answer 90 percent of the questions you may have. Bite the bullet and read it,” Coulehan says. OSHA recently mailed out over 1.2 million copies to employers throughout the U.S.; the standard, helpful brochures and new forms can also be obtained from your area OSHA office or by going on the Internet to www.osha-slc.gov/recordkeeping/index.html.

Who must record illnesses or injuries?
Every employer with 10 or more total employees at any time of the year must record injuries and illnesses, unless the company falls under a select group of businesses that experience work-related injuries and illness rates 75 percent or more below the national average. Unfortunately, construction does not fall anywhere near that cut-off line. A complete list of partially exempt business types can be found in the standard.

All employers must report any workplace fatality or any catastrophic incident that sends three or more workers to the hospital within eight hours of the incident. “Because of company size or type of business, these may not be recordable, but in all cases they are reportable,” Coulehan says. “Even if the on-the-job fatality does not appear to be work-related, it must be reported to OSHA.”

However, if the fatality occurred, or if three or more workers are hospitalized, as a result of a motor vehicle accident that did not occur in a construction work zone or on public transportation, it does not have to be reported to OSHA. However, it still must be recorded.

If you employ temporary workers, either your company or the temporary agency must keep records of their work-related injuries or illnesses. If the workers are under your direct supervision, then you are required to keep work-related injury or illness records.

If you have employees working at remote locations, such as jobsites, for one year or more, a separate Form 300 log must be kept for that location. However, the records may be stored away from that site.

What is a reportable injury or illness?
The new requirement clarifies what is a recordable injury or illness. “It must meet three criteria,” says Coulehan. “First, was an employee involved? Second, did the employee experience an injury or illness? And third, was it work-related?”

To answer many of the gray areas that raised questions under the old standard, OSHA outlines specific types of illnesses or injuries that are not recordable. (See sidebar, “Work-related or not work-related?”)

The new standard requires recording any illness or injury that results in death, loss of consciousness, days away from work or restricted work activity or if any medical treatment is given beyond first aid (see sidebar, “Just what is first aid?”).

“Do not use the Blue Book that accompanied the 200 Form to decide if an illness or injury is recordable. Instead, refer to the new standard. Its question-and-answer format should answer any questions you may have,” Coulehan says.

New forms
The new standard requires using new forms. The Form 300 Log of Work-related Injuries and Illnesses replaces the Form 200 log. It has changed significantly.

It now requires employers to report the area or department where the injury or illness occurred, not the department in which the employee works. It also requires that only one case classification be marked, so that the most severe consequence of the work-related incident is recorded. “The 300 Form can be edited. Items can be struck out, days that the injured or ill worker was away from the job or on restricted duty can be changed or the case classification can be changed. If a case reaches 180 days, it can be capped and needs no further updating,” he says. However, illnesses and injuries that originated before January 1, 2002, must continue to be recorded under the old rules on the 2001 OSHA 200 log.

Under the new rules, hearing loss and musculo-skeletal disorders are not classified as a distinct type of injury or illness. “Work is underway to update the standard in these areas and should be completed for implementation in 2003,” says Coulehan. Until then, they must be recorded in Section 5, All Other Illnesses.

The Form 301 replaces Form 101, the work-related illness, injury and accident report. It must be filled out within seven days of the work-related injury or illness. Some states have their own OSHA programs and their forms may differ slightly from Form 301. OSHA reports the form takes about 22 minutes to complete.

The Form 300A is a summary of work-related injuries and illnesses for the preceding year. It must be posted at every working site by February 1 of the year following the year covered by the log and must remain posted until April 30. It must be signed by the highest corporate officer at the location. The logs and summaries must be kept for five years, but do not need to be sent to OSHA unless OSHA specifically asks you to do so.

New way of counting days off work
The 300 Form requires that CALENDAR days, not work days, be recorded when an employee is off work or on restricted duty. Do not count the day of the injury or illness in this total.

“You must resolve Saturday and Sunday or vacation or holidays and account for them,” says Coulehan. For example, if the injury or illness occurred on Friday, the medical doctor or licensed health care professional must be clear whether Saturday and Sunday were needed for recuperation or if the employee could have gone back to work on Saturday.

The new record-keeping process also tracks the time a worker is put on restricted duty, based on the recommendation of his or her doctor or licensed health care professional. If the illness or injury results in time off work and restricted work activity, record both on Form 300. “If the employee can not do any part of his or her job, even if they only do that part of the job once a week, that employee is on restricted duty,” Coulehan says.

New confidentiality requirements
Injuries or illnesses can involve some privacy concerns and the new record-keeping rule aims to protect employee privacy. The employee’s name should not be recorded on the OSHA 300 form in the following cases:
• An injury or illness to an intimate body part or to the reproductive system.
• An injury or illness resulting from a sexual assault.
• A mental illness.
• A case of HIV infection, hepatitis or tuberculosis.
• A needle-stick injury or a cut from a sharp object contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material as defined in 29 CFR Part 1904.8
• Other illnesses, if the employee independently and voluntarily requests that his or her name not be entered on the log.

The incident must still be recorded on the 300 log, but entered as a “privacy case” in the space for the employee name. A separate, confidential list of case numbers and employees’ names must be maintained.

If the record-keeper believes the injured or ill employee could still be identified from the information in the 300 Form, he or she can use discretion in describing the injury or illness on the 300 and 301 Forms.

OSHA will help
Coulehan emphasizes that OSHA offices are set up to be information resources, not a policing agency.

“If you have a question about the new standard, it won’t trigger inspections. For the first few months in 2002, OSHA will not issue any citations for record-keeping during inspections if the employer shows its intent was to comply with the new record-keeping requirements,” he says.

Work-related or not work-related?
As outlined in the 1904.5(b)(2) standard, work-related injuries or illnesses are NOT recordable if:
• 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.
• 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.
• The injury or illness is 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.
• 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.
• The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks unrelated to his or her employment at the establishment outside of the employee’s assigned working hours.
• The injury or illness is solely the result of personal grooming, self-medication for a non-work-related condition, or is intentionally self-inflicted.
• 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.
• The illness is the common cold or flu. However, contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, hepatitis A or plague are considered work-related if the employee is infected at work.
• 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) stating that the employee has a mental illness that is work-related.

Just what is first aid?
The standard clearly states that first aid treatment for injuries or illnesses does not make the incident recordable. The following treatments are considered first aid:
• Visits to a doctor or licensed health care professional for observation, counseling, diagnostic procedures or administering prescription medications used solely for diagnostic purposes.
• Using non-prescription medications at non-prescription strength.
• Receiving tetanus immunizations.
• Cleaning, flushing or soaking wounds on the skin surface.
• Using wound coverings, such as bandages, adhesive bandages, gauze pads or butterfly bandages.
• Using hot or cold therapy.
• Using any totally non-rigid means of support, such as elastic bandages, wraps, non-rigid back belts.
• Using temporary immobilization devices while transporting an accident victim such as slings, splints, neck collars or back boards.
• Drilling a fingernail or toenail to relieve pressure or draining fluids from blisters.
• Using eye patches.
• Using simple irrigation or a cotton swab or other simple means to remove splinters or foreign bodies not embedded in or adhered to the eye.
• Using irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs or other simple means to remove splinters or foreign material from areas other than the eye.
• Using finger guards.
• Using massages.
• Drinking fluids to relieve heat stress.

Published in the March/April, 2002 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.