Search

Recording Injuries Away From Work

Posted on 1/3/2012 by James Griffin

Q. We have employees who work in the office about half the time, but work off-site the other half. If they were hurt driving for work, would I have to record this injury?
 
A. As always, it depends on the situation.
 
Under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules, all employers are required to keep records of each fatality, injury, and illness that is:
 
  1. Work-related, and 
  2. A new case, and 
  3. Meets one or more of the general recording criteria of 29 CFR 1904.7 or the application to specific cases of 29 CFR 1904.8-1904.11. [29 CFR 1904.4] 
Assuming the second two criteria are met, something is considered “work-related” if the event or exposure occurs in 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.” [29 CFR 1904.5(b)(1)]
 
An employee’s normal commute is not considered work-related, so you would not have to worry about injuries that occur on the way to the office. However, travel off-site for other work-related activities would be subject to recordability since the employee had to make this trip as a condition of their his or her employment.
 
Some examples of this include, but are not limited to:
 
  • A salesperson traveling to meet clients, 
  • Traveling out of town to attend a conference, or 
  • Delivering materials to customers. 
As a final, finer point, an injury or illness would not be considered work-related if it occurred while an employee was on a personal detour from a reasonably direct route of travel (e.g., if the employee had taken a side trip for personal reasons) [29 CFR 1904.5(b)(6)(ii]. However, if an employee had made a personal detour and then resumed his or her direct route of travel, an injury would again be considered work-related and need to be recorded.
 

Tags: osha, reporting and recordkeeping

Find a Post

Compliance Archives

Lion - Quotes

I love that the instructor emphasized the thought process behind the regs.

Rebecca Saxena

Corporate Product Stewardship Specialist

If I need thorough training or updating, I always use Lion. Lion is always the best in both instruction and materials.

Bryce Parker

EHS Manager

I really enjoyed this training. Even after years on both sides of the comprehension coin, I find myself still learning! The quality of the delivery exceeded much of the training I have received in the past.

Neil Ozonur

Safety Officer

Excellent class, super instructor, very easy to follow. No rushing through material. Would like to take his class again.

Lawrence Patterson

EH&S Facility Maintenance & Security Manager

Lion courses are the standard to which all other workshops should strive for!

Brody Saleen

Registered Environmental Health Specialist

No comparison. Lion has the best RCRA training ever!!

Matt Sabine

Environmental Specialist

The exercises in the DOT hazardous materials management course are especially helpful in evaluating your understanding of course information.

Morgan Bliss

Principal Industrial Hygienist

This is the best RCRA training I've experienced! I will be visiting Lion training again.

Cynthia L. Logsdon

Principal Environmental Engineer

The instructor was very engaging and helped less experienced people understand the concepts.

Steve Gall

Safety Leader

I was recently offered an opportunity to take my training through another company, but I politely declined. I only attend Lion Technology workshops.

Stephanie Gilliam

Material Production/Logistics Manager

Download Our Latest Whitepaper

Find out what makes DOT hazmat training mandatory for employees who sign the hazardous waste manifest, a “dually regulated” document for tracking shipments.

Latest Whitepaper

By submitting your phone number, you agree to receive recurring marketing and training text messages. Consent to receive text messages is not required for any purchases. Text STOP at any time to cancel. Message and data rates may apply. View our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.