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Question:
An employee is working from a home office due to a pandemic. Every morning they take a 15 minute walk to buy a coffee from a local shop. On the way to the shop they get struck by lightning and lose consciousness. Is it recordable?
Answer:
YES. Breaks are considered part of a normal work day and losing consciousness is considered recordable if work-related.
Letter of Interpretation: Under Section 1904.5(b)(2)(v), an injury or illness is not work-related if it is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks (unrelated to their employment) at the establishment outside of the employee's assigned working hours. In order for this exception to apply, the case must meet both of the stated conditions [i.e., the injury or illness must (1) be solely the result of the employee doing personal tasks (unrelated to their employment), and (2) occur outside of the employee's assigned working hours]. [...] Lunch breaks are considered assigned working hours for injury and illness recordkeeping purposes.
1904.7(a): Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recording criteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves 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.
