New COVID-19 rules from OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has implemented new COVID-19 recordkeeping requirements.
According to the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA), all employers who are currently subject to OSHA’s existing recordkeeping requirements, which includes building material and supply dealers, must now record a case of COVID-19 as job-related if the case:
Employers with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements.
The NLBMD said, given the nature of the disease and ubiquity of community spread, in many instances it remains difficult to determine whether a COVID-19 illness is work-related, especially when an employee has experienced potential exposure both in and out of the workplace. In light of these considerations, OSHA is exercising enforcement discretion to assess employers' efforts in making work-related determinations.
In determining whether an employer has complied with this obligation and made a reasonable determination of work-relatedness, Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) will apply the following considerations:
If, after the reasonable and good faith inquiry, the employer cannot determine whether it is more likely than not that exposure in the workplace played a causal role with respect to a particular case of COVID-19, the employer does not need to record that COVID-19 illness, the NLBMDA said.
Detailed guidance pertaining to OSHA's existing Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rule can be found here.
According to the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA), all employers who are currently subject to OSHA’s existing recordkeeping requirements, which includes building material and supply dealers, must now record a case of COVID-19 as job-related if the case:
- Is confirmed as a COVID-19 illness (positive test);
- Is work-related as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5; and
- Involves one or more of the general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7, such as medical treatment beyond first aid or days away from work.
Employers with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements.
The NLBMD said, given the nature of the disease and ubiquity of community spread, in many instances it remains difficult to determine whether a COVID-19 illness is work-related, especially when an employee has experienced potential exposure both in and out of the workplace. In light of these considerations, OSHA is exercising enforcement discretion to assess employers' efforts in making work-related determinations.
In determining whether an employer has complied with this obligation and made a reasonable determination of work-relatedness, Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) will apply the following considerations:
- The reasonableness of the employer's investigation into work-relatedness.
- The evidence available to the employer.
- The evidence that a COVID-19 illness was contracted at work.
If, after the reasonable and good faith inquiry, the employer cannot determine whether it is more likely than not that exposure in the workplace played a causal role with respect to a particular case of COVID-19, the employer does not need to record that COVID-19 illness, the NLBMDA said.
- Any employee fatality as a result of a work-related incident (within 8 hours)
- Any in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees as a result of a work-related incident (within 24 hours).
- Any employee amputation as a result of a work-related incident (within 24 hours).
- Any employee loss of an eye as a result of a work-related incident (within 24 hours).
Detailed guidance pertaining to OSHA's existing Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rule can be found here.