Simply Climbing Stairs
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:
YES, probably. It is definitely work-related. It would be recordable if medical treatment, restricted work or lost time occurred. OSHA operates under a presumption of work-relatedness for any incident that occurs in the work environment. The work environment means anywhere the employee is as a condition of their employment. Climbing stairs is considered a part of a normal workday and is not listed as an exception under the OSHA recordkeeping guidelines. You could try to have a doctor make a determination of work-relatedness but if the workplace contributed to the injury in any way (even if not the sole or predominate cause) then it would still be recordable.