As noted in a prior article, “Under the federal Occupational Health and Safety Act businesses are required to report work-related injuries and illnesses annually to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (also OSHA).” 1 That rule also pertains to COVID-19 cases in a workplace.
As reported in the May 22, 2020 National Association of Home Builders e-newsletter:
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration this week announced a significant reversal of previous policy on an employer’s obligation to record work-related cases of COVID-19 on OSHA injury and illness logs. The new requirements go into effect Tuesday, May 26, 2020
In terms of the updated recording requirements:
Employers who are subject to OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements must record a case of COVID-19 as job-related if:
- It is a confirmed case of the virus (a positive test),
- It is “work-related” in that an event or exposure in the work environment either contributed to or caused an employee to contract the virus, and
- It results in death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer, or medical treatment beyond first aid.
Employers who have no recordkeeping obligations need only report work-related COVID-19 illnesses resulting in an employee’s death or in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. But those employers must still investigate positive tests to determine if the case is work-related. 3
For additional details see the full NAHB report entitled “OSHA Reverses Course and Now Requires Employers to Track COVID-19 Cases”.
- For the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Administration’s May 19, 2020 Enforcement Memo entitled “Revised Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-10).
For information about Bogin, Munns & Munns’ own response to Coronavirus readiness.
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Note: Citations are given to the sources to respect the original authors’ copyrights.
1 https://www.boginmunns.com/florida-businesses-two-osha-deadlines-approaching/.
2 http://nahbnow.com/2020/05/osha-reverses-course-and-now-requires-employers-to-track-covid-19-cases/.
3 Ibid.
– For more information, call Philip N. Kabler of the Gainesville, FL office of Bogin, Munns & Munns at 352.332.7688, where he practices in the areas of business, banking, real estate, and equine law. He has taught business and real estate law courses at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business Administration and Levin College of Law and is the President-Elect of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association.
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