Injury/Illness Recording & Reporting

1. Injury/Illness Recording & Reporting OSHA 300 Recordkeeping Requirements August, 2011

2. Topics Covered This presentation is an outline of the requirements of injury/illness recordkeeping and will cover the following topics: What is injury/illness recordkeeping? Who has to keep these records? What is considered a workplace injury? What information must be recorded? What are the forms you need to fill out? Note: DOSH injury/illness recordkeeping requirements are similar but not identical to federal OSHA injury/illness recordkeeping requirements.

3. What is injury and illness recordkeeping? Most businesses are required by both federal OSHA and DOSH to keep records of employee on-the-job injuries or illnesses on the form shown above (plus two other forms discussed later.)

4. Why is workplace injury & illness recording important? It is required by DOSH regulations (WAC 296-27), but it can also do the following for employers: - capture information on how workers are hurt, - help identify safety and health hazards, - help prevent future injuries or illnesses, - increase employee safety awareness, - reduce worker compensation claims costs.

5. Keeping records of workplace injuries and illnesses does NOT mean: that the employer or employee was at fault, that a DOSH safety & health rule has been violated, that the injured employee is eligible for workers' compensation or other benefits. However, if a DOSH safety & health inspector visits your workplace, they will ask if you have the records and usually review them to determine where safety hazards may still exist.

6. Who must keep workplace injury/illness records? Many, but not all employers must keep records. However, certain types of businesses are exempted.* If not exempted, you must keep the records if you have 11 or more employees any time during the year, including temporary employees. Applies to any employee on payroll who is injured at work. • * Mainly retail, restaurants, service, finance, insurance and real estate employers – see Table 1 in the Rule. Also exempt are public libraries and public schools.

7. What injuries/illnesses must be recorded? Any “work-related” injury or illness: • As defined in the Rule: “… an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness.” Examples include cuts, fractures, back injury from lifting, acid splash into eyes, inhaling paint vapors that make existing asthma worse. Also includes fatalities.

8. Reporting Fatalities and Hospitalizations In addition to keeping records of fatalities and serious injuries requiring a stay at a hospital, all employers must notify L & I of these incidents within 8 hours. Call 1-800-423-7233 or the nearest L & I office and provide the following: - time & date - location - company name - number of employees who died or were hospitalized - names of those employees - company contact person and phone number - brief description of the incident Note: Most fatalities and many hospitalizations will be investigated by DOSH safety & health inspectors.

9. Definition: When employees are at a fixed workplace establishment, they are in the work environment. When employees are working away from the establishment, they carry a “bubble” of work environment wherever they go. What is the “work environment”? • Establishment and locations where one or more employees are working or present as a condition of their employment. • Includes all physical locations and equipment or materials used by the employee during the course of his or her work.

10. An injury or illness while on travel status is work-related if the employee was engaged in work activities for the employer. Work-Related Travel Status • Travel to and from customer contact • Conducting job tasks during travel • Business related entertainment directed by employer • Off-time in a motel is not work-related in the “home away from home” concept • Detours for personal reasons are not work-related

11. Work at Home Work-related injuries or illnesses at home: Must be performing work for pay or compensation and directly related to the performance of work rather than general home environment. Example: If an employee drops a box of work documents and injures her foot, or if an employee's fingernail was punctured and became infected by a needle from a sewing machine used to perform garment work at home, the injuries would be considered work-related. In contrast, if an employee receives a shock and is injured due to faulty wiring in the home, the injury is not work related.

12. Present as member of general public. Example: If a grocery store employee is shopping after work, falls and is injured, the employee is present as a member of the general public and the injury is not work related. Work Environment Exceptions Symptoms arising in work environment due to non-work-related event or exposure. Example: If an employee has a pollen-caused asthma attack and must take medication, the disease is not work-related. Voluntary participation in wellness program, medical, fitness or recreational activity. Example: If an employee passes out giving blood or is injured playing basketball for a company team – the case is due to voluntary participation in a wellness or fitness program and is not work related. Cases meeting the conditions of any of these listed exceptions are not considered work related and do not need to be recorded.

13. Eating, drinking or preparing food or drink for personal consumption. Work Environment Exceptions Example: If an employee burns his lip on a cup of coffee or chokes on a sandwich during lunch, the injury is not work related. Personal tasks at the worksite but outside assigned working hours. Example: If an employee works on his own car in the employer’s shop or uses the employer’s sewing machine after the shift has ended, this is a personal task and is not work related. Personal grooming, self medication for non-work-related condition, or intentionally self-inflicted injury Example: If an employee has a negative reaction to asthma medication for personal allergies, cuts himself shaving, or commits suicide – these cases are not work related.

14. Motor vehicle accident during commute. Example: If an employee is injured in a motor vehicle accident going to or leaving work at the beginning or end of shift, or for a personal errand – the case is not work related. However, if the employee slips on the ice in the company owned parking lot - the case is work related. Work Environment Exceptions • Common cold or flu. Example: If an employee catches a cold or the flu, the case is not work related. • Mental illness – unless substantiated by LHCP that it is work related. Example: Mental illness is work related only if the employee voluntarily provides the employer with a written opinion from a LHCP having appropriate qualifications and experience that affirms a work-related mental illness. The employer may get a second opinion and accept the opinion of the most qualified LHCP. LHCP – licensed health care professional – doctor, nurse, psychiatrist, etc.

15. What must be recorded? • Record a work-related injury or illness if it results in: • Death • Medical treatment beyond first aid • Loss of consciousness • Significant injury or illness diagnosed by a licensed healthcare professional. • Days away from work (off work) • Restricted work or job transfer

16. Management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder. (does not have to be treatment by a doctor) What is considered medical treatment? Does not include: Visits to health care provider solely for observation or counseling, Diagnostic procedures such as x-ray, blood tests or MRIs, First aid

17. Using a nonprescription medication at nonprescription strength; • 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 (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. (rigid devices or other systems designed to immobilize parts of the body are considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes); First Aid Actions Not Considered Medical Treatment

18. 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. First Aid Not Considered Medical Treatment (continued) Note: even if first aid as described is provided by a doctor or other health care provider, it is not considered medical treatment and does not have to be recorded.

19. All work-related cases involving loss of consciousness must be recorded regardless of the length of time the worker is unconscious. Loss of Consciousness

20. Significant diagnosed injuries and illnesses include: • Cancer • Chronic irreversible disease • Fractured or cracked bone • Punctured eardrum

21. Record as any other injury if hearing loss is in one or both ears and is related to noise exposure on the job • Do not have to record the loss if health care provider determines the loss is not work-related. • Hearing loss threshold shifts of 10 decibels or more and 25 decibel overall hearing loss as detected in hearing tests must be recorded. Hearing Loss Audiogram showing hearing loss

22. Record work-related injuries and illnesses involving muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage and spinal discs in the same manner that you would any injury or illness. Musculoskeletal Disorders Examples include such conditions as: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Rotator Cuff Syndrome, Trigger Finger, Epicondylitis, and Low Back Pain.

23. Other Specific Recording Criteria Needlestick and sharps injuries Medical removal under a DOSH safety standard Tuberculosis Specific requirements apply to these situations – see WAC 296-27-01109 for needlesticks, WAC 296-27-01111 for medical removal and WAC 296-27-1115 for tuberculosis

24. Significantly Aggravated Pre-Existing Injury or Illness If an employee has a pre-existing condition and an event or exposure in the work environment aggravates that condition and results in: • death • loss of consciousness • medical treatment • days away from work, restricted work days or job transfer, than the injury or illness must be reported. Example: a worker with a minor back injury severely injures his back further while lifting a heavy object or a worker with a heart condition has a heart attack while doing heavy labor and dies.

25. A case is considered new if: New Injury/Illness Cases • The employee has no previous recorded injury/illness of same type affecting the same part of the body or, • the employee has fully recovered from previous injury/illness but work-related events or exposure caused the signs and symptoms to reappear.

26. Most illnesses and some injuries can be complicated and may need medical documentation. New Cases • If there is a medical opinion regarding resolution of a case, the employer must follow that opinion. • If an exposure triggers the recurrence, it is a new case (e.g., asthma, rashes). • If signs and symptoms recur even in the absence of exposure, it is not a new case (e.g., silicosis, tuberculosis, asbestosis). Note: If two or more Physicians or Licensed Health Care Professionals make conflicting recommendations the employer is required to base their decision on the best documented and reasoned evidence.

27. Criteria for entering number of days away from work: Days away from work cases • Do not include day of injury or illness. • Employer must follow health care professional medical opinion. • The number of days includes weekends, holidays, vacation that the employee could not work because of the injury/illness. • Cap the count at 180 days. • Stop count if employee leaves company for reason unrelated to injury/illness.

28. Some minor injuries may require a visit to a medical clinic on the day of the injury, but no time off work after that. It is still considered a recordable injury, if actual medical treatment occurred. An example is a head cut requiring stitches, but the worker returns to work the next day with no work restrictions. Injuries requiring medical treatment, but no days away from work Remember, x-rays, first aid or blood tests alone do not count as medical treatment.

29. Restricted Work/Job Transfer Restricted work activity keeps employee from:: • Performing one or more routine functions* of his or her job (work activities the employee regularly performs at least once per week) or • Working a normally scheduled workday.** *Routine functions are work activities the employee regularly performs at least once per week. **The day of injury/illness is not counted as a day of restriction

30. Restricted Work Restricted Work/Job Transfer • Not considered restricted work if: • Restriction limited to day of injury/illness • Fewer goods or services produced • Recommended restrictions from LHCP must be considered Job Transfer • Assigned to job other than normal job for part of day • Performs normal job for part of day and assigned to another for rest of day Most job transfers involve some type of restriction. Even if they don’t, job transfers due to an injury or illness are recordable events. If an injured or ill employee is transferred to another job for half days, this is also a job transfer.

31. Restricted Work/Job Transfer Counting days of restrictions/transfer • Count same as days away from work. • Stop count if permanent changes to job are made. • If permanent changes are made the day of the injury/illness, the employer must count at least one day

32. In some cases, names of injured employee need to be kept private & not recorded on forms. Privacy Cases • Privacy concern cases are limited to: • Injury/illness to intimate body part or reproductive system • Injury/illness resulting from sexual assault • Mental illness • HIV infection, hepatitis or tuberculosis • Needle stick/sharps injuries • Illnesscases where employee requests to keep name off • Employers may use discretion in describing a privacy cases to protect employee identity. See WAC 296-27-0119 for details

33. Three Forms – OSHA 301, OSHA 300 and OSHA 300-A Injury/illness recordkeeping forms These 3 forms must be used and kept or their equivalent that records the same information. Next slides provide details. Click here to get full views.

34. OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report Must be filled out within 7 days of incident, Must include details about an incident, Must be retained for 5 years, and can be kept electronically, Can use another form as long as it contains same information.

35. OSHA 300 Log Record details within 7 days – take information from OSHA 301 form: • What happened • Where it happened • When it happened • How it happened, and • Who it happened to The OSHA 300 Log must be retained for 5 years and updated if there are any changes in information.

36. OSHA 300A Summary form This form is a summary of all recorded incidents for a calendar year. It must be certified as accurate by company executive. It must be posted for all employees to view from Feb. 1- April 30 of following year and kept on file for 5 years.

37. Can keep records on equivalent form if: • Has the same information, • Is as readable and understandable • Completed using the same instructions as the OSHA form it replaces • May use computer if: • Records can be produced when needed • You can provide required access Equivalent Forms

38. Keep separate OSHA 300 for each establishment expected to be in business for a year or longer. Multiple Business Establishments • Log may be kept at central location if you can: • Transmit to specific worksite within four hours of request • Meet disclosure timeframe requirements • send information about a injury to the central location within 7 days of the incident • May keep one log for several short-term establishments or worksites in business for less than one year.

39. Employer must: Employee Involvement • Inform employee how to report injuries/illnesses • Provide limited access to injury/illness records to present/past employees and their representatives: • Authorized collective bargaining agent (employee rep) • Person designated by employee (personal representative) • Legal representative of injured/deceased employee (personal representative)

40. Employers are required to provide records to employees upon request. • Provide copy of OSHA Form 300 by end of next business day to any employee who requests it. • May not remove names from OSHA 300 (except privacy cases). • Provide copy of OSHA Form 301 to injured employee, former employee or personal representative by end of next business day upon request. Employee Access to Records

41. Annual OSHA Survey If you receive an Annual Survey Form from federal OSHA you must: • Respond within 30 calendar days or date stated in survey, whichever is later • Respond even if normally exempt Even though DOSH operates in Washington state, you must still respond.

42. DOSH safety & health inspectors will likely review injury & illness records during inspections. • Employer must provide copies within four (4) business hours. • “Business hours” are determined by business hours of establishment where records are located. Providing Records to DOSH Inspectors

43. For more information or assistance To speak to a DOSH staff person knowledgeable about recordkeeping, call 360-902-5735 Do I have to maintain an OSHA 300 Log? - a short summary of this module How to fill out OSHA 300, 300A & 301 forms Federal OSHA Injury Recordkeeping Rules– if you have business locations in other states, federal rules may apply Recordkeeping Workshops offered by DOSH staff