The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued guidance for enforcing OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements for COVID-19 cases. OSHA recordkeeping requirements mandate covered employers record certain work-related injuries and illnesses on their OSHA 300 log.
According to the guidance, COVID-19 is a recordable illness, and must be recorded on an employer’s OSHA 300 log if:
Recognizing the difficulty in determining whether COVID-19 was contracted while on the job, OSHA will not enforce its recordkeeping requirements that would require employers in areas where there is ongoing community transmission to make work-relatedness determinations for COVID-19 cases, except where:
This waiver of enforcement does not apply to employers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting and law enforcement services), and correctional institutions in areas where there is ongoing community transmission. These employers must continue to make work-relatedness determinations.
This new guidance provides employers with one fewer issue to worry about in their response efforts to an employee with a confirmed case of COVID-19. Employers should continue to focus on minimizing the risk of transmission in the workplace.