By Glenn Demby

The Feb. 1 deadline for finalizing your 2011 OSHA records is just 2 days away. As you review your OSHA 300 logs, be on the lookout for 6 common pitfalls that can lead to citations under the Recordkeeping standard:

1. Not Recording Injuries If They’re Not Your Fault

As OSHA clarifies in a 2002 Interpretation Letter, recordability is no-fault. So illnesses/injuries may still be recordable even if they’re sustained in bizarre accidents, result from deliberate misconduct on the part of an employee or are otherwise “not your fault.”

What to Do: Don’t consider blame or responsibility in evaluating recordability. Record all illnesses and injuries that meet OSHA criteria, i.e., the ones that:

• Are work-related; and
• Are new cases you haven’t reported before; and
• Result in at least 1 of the following:
  • Death;
  • Days away from work;
  • Restricted work or transfer to another job;
  • Medical treatment beyond first aid;
  • Loss of consciousness; or
  • Significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or licensed healthcare professional.

2. Not Recording Injuries If They’re Not Covered by Workers’ Comp

It may be okay to use workers’ comp injury/illness reporting forms instead of the OSHA 300. But in listing recordable illnesses/injuries on the form, you still need to rely on the OSHA recordability criteria.

What To Do: Make sure you record injuries and illnesses that meet the criteria for recording under OSHA even if you’re using the workers’ comp form as a substitute for the OSHA 300 log and the particular injury or illness isn’t covered by workers’ comp. In other words, if you have to record it in the OSHA 300, you also have to record it on the equivalent form regardless of whether it’s compensable under workers’ comp.

3. Not Recording Injuries If the Victim Is a Temp

Temps are considered “covered employees” for whom illness/injury records must be kept under Sec. 1904.31 of the Recordkeeping standard. The issue is whether responsibility for the temp’s injury/illness falls to the host employer or the temp agency that placed him.

What To Do: Make sure you record covered illnesses/injuries suffered by temps to the extent you supervise the work they do on a day-to-day basis. As explained in a 2003 OSHA Interpretation Letter, supervision means control over the “details, means, methods and processes by which” work is carried out.” Click here for a Quiz applying the OSHA rules to a real-life scenario.

4. Deeming a Treatment “First Aid” because It’s Advertised as “First Aid”

Under Sec. 1904.7(b)(1)(iv), injuries/illnesses are recordable if the victim gets medical treatment “beyond first aid.” Sec. 1904.7(b)(5) lists the specific treatments defined as “first aid” under the Standard:

• Using a non-prescription medication at nonprescription strength (for medications available in both prescription and non-prescription form, a recommendation by a physician or other licensed health care professional to use a non-prescription medication at prescription strength is considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes);
• Administering tetanus immunizations (other immunizations, such as Hepatitis B vaccine or rabies vaccine, are considered medical treatment);
• Cleaning, flushing or soaking wounds on the surface of the skin;
• Using wound coverings such as bandages, Band-Aids™, gauze pads, etc.; or using butterfly bandages or Steri-Strips™ (other wound closing devices such as sutures, staples, etc., are considered medical treatment);
• Using hot or cold therapy;
• Using any non-rigid means of support, such as elastic bandages, wraps, non-rigid back belts, etc. (devices with rigid stays or other systems designed to immobilize parts of the body are considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes);
• Using temporary immobilization devices while transporting an accident victim (e.g., splints, slings, neck collars, back boards, etc.);
• Drilling of a fingernail or toenail to relieve pressure, or draining fluid from a blister;
• Using eye patches;
• Removing foreign bodies from the eye using only irrigation or a cotton swab;
• Removing splinters or foreign material from areas other than the eye by irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs or other simple means;
• Using finger guards;
• Using massages (physical therapy or chiropractic treatment are considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes); or
• Drinking fluids for relief of heat stress.

What To Do: These aren’t just examples; they’re the entire list of what OSHA deems “first aid.” Also be aware that treatments advertised as “first aid” aren’t actually included on the Sec. 1904.7(b)(5) list, e.g., removal of foreign objects from eyes with instruments called eye loops and magnets. So rely not on the advertisement but the (b)(5) list to determine if a treatment is deemed “first aid” under OSHA.

5. Not Recording Injuries as Work Restriction If Employee Can Still Do Useful Work

You must record injuries/illnesses that result in a “work restriction,” i.e. (under Sec. 1904(b)(7)(i) and (ii)), where the employer keeps or a licensed health care professional recommends that the employee not perform one or more of the “routine functions” of his job. “Routine function” is a work activity regularly performed at least once a week.

What To Do: Understand that work restrictions aren’t defined by the usefulness of the injured employee’s post-injury work but how it compares to his pre-injury job functions. So, for example, assigning office work to a warehouse employee who can no longer lift materials as he did every day before he got hurt won’t get you out of recording the injury as a work restriction.

6. Not Counting Light Duty as a Work Restriction

You must record injuries/illnesses that result in a “work restriction,” i.e. (under Sec. 1904(b)(7)(i) and (ii)), where the employer keeps or a licensed health care professional recommends that the employee not perform one or more of the “routine functions” of his job. “Routine function” is a work activity regularly performed at least once a week. According to OSHA (under Sec. 1904(b)(4)(vii)), light duty not only can be but is presumed to be a work restriction that must be recorded.

What To Do: If a doctor recommends light duty, treat the case as a work restriction unless you can get the doctor to expressly state that the employee can perform all his routine job functions. Or, if you’re not clear exactly what the doctor is recommending, you may follow up and ask about what the restriction means.

The best approach: Ask the doctor directly what, if any, of the employee’s routine tasks he shouldn’t perform. Treat the injury as a recordable restricted work case if:

• If at least one of the employee’s routine job functions is on the list; or
• You can’t get specific information from the doctor on the tasks the routine tasks the employee can’t perform.

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