Q231 - Spilled tea

Question: 

Two employees collide into each other while walking at work. One employee gets hot tea spilled on their arm. The employee sees a doctor and is cleared to work but claims he can't work and goes home for the rest of the day. He returns to work the next day. Is it recordable?

Answer:

NO. The recommendation made by a licensed health care professional, and the actions of the employer are determinative for recordkeeping purposes, not the opinion of the employee. Since the licensed healthcare professional cleared the employee for work, it is not considered days away from work if the employee took an optional day off.

1904.7(b)(3)(ii) How do I record an injury or illness when a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that the worker stay at home, but the employee comes to work anyway? You must record these injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 Log using the check box for cases with days away from work and enter the number of calendar days away recommended by the physician or other licensed health care professional. If a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends days away, you should encourage your employee to follow that recommendation. However, the days away must be recorded whether the injured or ill employee follows the physician or licensed health care professional's recommendation or not. If you receive recommendations from two or more physicians or other licensed health care professionals, you may make a decision as to which recommendation is the most authoritative, and record the case based upon that recommendation.

1904.7(b)(3)(iii) How do I handle a case when a physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that the worker return to work but the employee stays at home anyway? In this situation, you must end the count of days away from work on the date the physician or other licensed health care professional recommends that the employee return to work.

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Q008 - Prescription Strength OTC Medicine

Question: 

An employee is injured at work and sees a doctor. The doctor provides no treatment but recommends the employee takes over-the-counter ibuprofen at a dose of 800mg every 8 hours. Is it recordable?

Answer:

YES, it is recordable. Even though the doctor recommended using OTC ibuprofen, it was recommended at a prescription strength. Ibuprofen taken at a level of over 400mg every 6-8 hours is considered prescription strength.

OSHA Reference

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Q007 - Parking Lot

Question: 

The employee was walking up the stairs at work and felt a snap in their leg. The employee was not carrying anything work-related and was doing nothing more than walking up the stairs. Is it recordable?

Answer:

NO, it is not recordable. The commute is excepted from work-relatedness. The commute doesn't end until the employee physically steps foot onto the work establishment. So, if the employee never got out of the vehicle, then the commute did not end and is therefore not work-related. If the incident occurred the same way but during the normal workday (not during the commute) it would not be excepted and should be recorded.

1904.5

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