.png)
Bamboo Flooring
Question: An employee was tasked with picking up bamboo flooring for a remodeling project of a new office space. The employee picked up the bamboo flooring one evening and decided to take it into their own home overnight so it wouldn't be stolen from their vehicle. The next morning, the employee picked up the bamboo flooring and felt something on the underside of the packaging and a tingling pain in his hand. Upon closer inspection the employee found hundreds of baby scorpions crawling in and around the packaging and several stings on his hand. The employee immediately drove to urgent care and was provided prescription strength 2.5% hydrocortisone cream. Is it recordable?
Answer: YES. Normally, an incident that occurs at home or at any time prior to the end of the commute in to work would be considered not work-related. However, in this case, the employee was engaged in work activity as a condition of his employment and this should be considered work-related. The prescription antibiotics are considered medical treatment which makes this injury recordable.
1904.5(b)(1): What is the "work environment"? OSHA defines the work environment as "the establishment and other locations where one or more employees are working or are present as a condition of their employment. The work environment includes not only physical locations, but also the equipment or materials used by the employee during the course of his or her work."