OSHA Clarifies COVID-19 Recording Requirements

In a memo issued on Friday night, April 10, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its guidance on whether employers are required to record cases of COVID-19 in their 300 Logs for reporting occupational injuries and illnesses.  OSHA has confirmed that COVID-19 can be a recordable work-related illness that must be documented on an employer’s OSHA 300 log in certain circumstances. OSHA advised employers to consider the following three factors in making that determination:

When is an illness recordable?

OSHA confirmed that COVID-19 is a recordable illness, and employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19, if:

1. the case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);

2. the case is “work-related,” which is defined as an event or exposure that either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness (29 CFR § 1904.5); and

3. the case involves one or more of the following:

   • death

   • days away from work

   • restricted work or transfer to another job

   • medical treatment beyond first aid

   • loss of consciousness

   • a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.

Is the COVID-19 case work-related?

In the memo, OSHA recognizes that employers “may have difficulty making determinations about whether workers who contracted COVID-19 did so due to exposures at work.”  Accordingly, OSHA has provided the following guidance:

Employers of workers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting, and law enforcement services), and correctional institutions must continue to make work-relatedness determinations pursuant to 29 CFR § 1904. Until further notice, however, OSHA will not enforce 29 CFR § 1904 to require other employers to make the same work-relatedness determinations, except where:

1. There is objective evidence that a COVID-19 case may be work-related. This could include, for example, a number of cases developing among workers who work closely together without an alternative explanation; and

2. The evidence was reasonably available to the employer. For purposes of this memorandum, examples of reasonably available evidence include information given to the employer by employees, as well as information that an employer learns regarding its employees’ health and safety in the ordinary course of managing its business and employees.

Other Guidelines

OSHA has issued a number of guidance documents in light of the current shortage of certain personal protective equipment, namely, respirators. On April 3, 2020, OSHA issued guidance allowing for extended use and reuse of N95 respirators, and in certain circumstances, allowing their use beyond their expiration dates. Also on April 3, 2020, OSHA issued guidance permitting, in certain circumstances, the use of respirators that are not approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) but that are certified in certain jurisdictions.