Q178 - Blue Ice

Question: 

A large chunk of frozen sewage material known as blue ice detaches from an airplane midflight and strikes a moving vehicle on a highway. The driver of the vehicle loses control of the vehicle and drives into a gas station where an employee is waiting in line to pay for a coffee. The employee stopped at the gas station on his way from one worksite to another to grab a coffee. He is badly injured and must stay home from work for several days to heal. Is it recordable? 

Answer:

YES. Normal breaks, including coffee breaks, smoke breaks and lunch breaks are considered part of the normal workday for recordkeeping purposes. Since the employee was on a reasonably direct route of travel from one worksite to another (not on a detour for personal reasons) there are no exceptions to this scenario and it should be recorded on the OSHA log.  

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.

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