The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has clarified employers’ responsibility to track workplace COVID-19 virus infections.
OSHA’s recordkeeping rule requires employers to include in federally mandated logs any work-related illness that leads to a worker missing a day or more on the job or receiving medical treatment more substantial than first-aid. The new guidance says that only employers in the health-care industry, emergency response organizations such as police and fire departments, and correctional institutions will have to determine whether employees contracted the virus on the job.
Construction contractors, manufacturers, and other employers won’t have to make that determination unless there’s “objective evidence that a Covid-19 case may be work-related” and “the evidence was reasonably available to the employer.” OSHA’s new guidance says objective evidence could include “a number of cases developing among workers who work closely together without an alternative explanation.”
OSHA had announced in early March that coronavirus cases would have to be recorded. Industry groups, including construction organizations, said it would be too unwieldy to determine if an employee became sick at a work site or contracted the disease elsewhere.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Jobsite Safety
OSHA Issues Final Rule for Jobsite Inspections
The March 29 rule amends the existing OSHA regulation for who can accompany OSHA inspectors during workplace inspections
Jobsite Safety
2024 Annual Increase in OSHA Penalties for Safety Violations Takes Effect
The new amounts reflect annual cost-of-living adjustments to OSHA civil penalties and went into effect on Monday, Jan. 15
Business Management
A Broken Housing System Hurts American Families
NAHB Chairman's Message: In a challenging business environment for home builders, and with higher housing costs for families, the National Association of Home Builders is working to help home builders better meet the nation's housing needs