Document e7zyJ31px7R6B17qgYRMqBr54

CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS BLS Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses On July 17,1985, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, announced proposed revisions in its Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. [50 F d. Reg. 29102] These guidelines could affect yourcompany's health and safety record by chang ing recordkeeping criteria Attached, for your information, are CMA's draft comments on the BLS Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. CMA urges you to send company comments to BLS to ensure a balanced rulemaking record for th revised guidelines. Please consider submitting company comments on points you want to make, attaching CMA's comments, or sending a single-page letter endorsing CMA's. Send in your written comments no later than October 15,1985 to: William M. Eisenberg Office of Occupational Safety and Health Statistics U.S. Department of Labor 601 D Street, N.W., Room 4014 Washington, D.C. 20212 Bor 7934 9/27/85 PAGE 29107 29107 29107 29107 29107 29107 29107 PARAGRAPH D D D,1 D.l.b D,l,c D,2 D,2, 2nd K CHANGE REASON Change second italicized sentence to read, "The work environment is primarily composed of the employer's premises and other locations, where are engaged in work-related activities and are present as a condition of their employment." Clarifies work relationship and recognizes employee may be present on employer's premises for personal reasons. Change sentence after italicized wording to "Work relationship must always be established to consider an Injury or Illness as occupa tional, whether on or off the premises. Generally, all injuries on the premises are occupational; however, solely personal activ ities on or off the employer's premises are not work-related." Ditto above and eliminates negativism already created over the "presumption" phrase. Eliminate first two paragraphs. Covered above. Eliminate two sentences following "...by employees during off-work hours." Principle is that use of this type facility, regardless of location, is not occupational unless the use is required by the employer. Change last sentence to "...be considered work related if the employee was engaged in work-related activity or the Injury arose from an environmental condition." Classifies and simplifies parking lot injuries. Eliminate second sentence (beginning "When an employee is...") Redundant. Considered under first paragraph of D. Eliminate second 1 beginning with second sentence ("an employee in travel status..."). Change to, "Employees who travel on company business shall be considered in the course of employment all the time they spend in the interest of company, including, but not limited to, travel to and from customer con tacts, entertaining or being entertained for the purpose of transacting, discussing or promoting business. However, an injury/ illness would not be tAbulatable if it occurred during normal living activities (eating, sleeping, recreation); or if the This the "home away from home" concept and is understood and currently used by many. One must not confuse compensability of injuries occurring to an employee traveling (i.e.. In a motel) with occupationally related. BOR 007935 PAGE 29100 29116 PARAGRAPH F A12 Q, A13 Q, and A14 Q --z -- CHARGE employee deviates from a reasonably direct route of travel, (side trip for vacation or other personal reasons). He would again be In the course of employment when he returned to the normal route of travel. If an employee establishes a home away from home (hotel, motel, etc.). Injuries sustained during travel to/from the temporary work site are considered off the job. REASON A home away from home Is established when employee enters hotel or motel property. Sales personnel may establish only one office (home or company office). A sales person with his home as an office is con sidered at work when he is in that office and when he leaves his premises In the interest of the company." Change fourth paragraph to "Occupational Illnesses must be diagnosed to be recordable. Diagnosis must be made by any person who is licensed to prescribe treatment within the state. Employers, employees, and others may detect some Illnesses and then request diagnosis." Diagnosis is inextricably tied to treatment. Without the responsibility and experience of treatment, diagnoses cannot be held accountable because diagnosis is basically an Implement to formulate treatment. There 1b no diagnosis that does not portend a treatment strategy even should the strategy be "no need for treatment." Diagnosis rendered by those who are neither trained nor experienced in treatment can only be considered as conjectural opinions. It is the prerogative of the various states to protect its citizens by setting standards for expertise regarding diagnosis and. If needed, treatment of illnesses. Federal regulations have yielded to state authority in such matters and it is not pragmatically feasible to alter that established relationship for this activity. This also maintains congruity with the Workman's Compensa tion Act procedures. Change to reflect that occupational injuries/ illnesses to U.S. based employees travel- The intent of the OSH Act is to reflect occupa tional injury/illness impact on U.S. persons. BOR 007936 PAGE 29116 29117 29121 PARAGRAPH C,1 C-l Q Col. 13 CHANGE ing overseas should be recorded. Delete last sentence beginning "Partners, self-employed..." Delete. Change "Enter a check if no entry was made in Cols. 8, 9, or 14, the illness did not involve lost workdays and was not a first aid Illness as described in these guide lines. BOR 007937 REASON Their actual location at the tine of Injury or exposure Is not germane. Suppose an employee was exposed overseas and the Illness symptoms were not manifested until the employee returned to the U.S. Would one not consider this a recordable illness? Of course, but the proposed guideline leaves doubt on this. Redundant. Covered in A answers. Covered on P. 29116, C,2. Recording Illnesses - Section 6(2) of the OSH Act discusses work-related deaths and the requirement for reporting. It indicates "the Secretary (Labor) in cooperation with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, shall prescribe regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of and make periodic reports on work-related deaths. Injuries and illnesses, other than minor Injuries requiring only first-aid..." Section 24(A) further comments that the Secretary "shall compile accurate statistics on work injuries and illnesses whether or not involving loss of time from work, other than minor injuries requiring only first aid..." As written, it was not Intended to omit minor Illnesses from these two sections and there Is no more reasons under the direction of Congress to record "insignifi cant*1 illnesses than there is to record insignifi cant injuries. There is no intent on the part of Congress to "overreport" injuries or illnesses. Less serious Illnesses, just like the less serious injuries, should be addresses by establishing a "first aid" illness category. This should include illnesses without treatment, and those treated without prescription drugs on a "one time visit only" (guidelines similar to first-aid injuries). The advantage of a first aid illness category are that more will be reported (without "performance penalty") and the resulting data will be a better early warning device for safety and health pro- PAGE 29121 29129 29132 29132 29133 29133 29134 29135 29135 PARAGRAPH After A2 Q4A C 2nd 1 Last 1 on Page 1st % 1st 9 Chart 1, Boxes (2) B-4,A B-5.A CHANGE REASON grams and prevention measures. Add a question. "Q: Should an entry be made if an Injury or illness to a pensioner is discovered? A: Yes, if it is discovered within 5 years after the employee retires. See A-2 for logging date." Responds to question of logging Injuries and Illnesses to retired employees. Should result in truer statistics, especially illnesses. The 5 years is consistent with the required period for record retention. Correct title "Location Exception..." Correct spelling. Eliminates last two sentences beginning, "The alternative of..." Self serving, based on assumption and misplaced emphasis. Replace with, "The goal of OSHA recording is to produce a valid, consistent and uniform system capable of accurately describing the nature of safety and health problems." Delete in entirety. Adds nothing but words. Delete from "Although generally..." to "...the statistical data." BLS has no responsibility for "private" systems. Delete "...and have been followed by most employers is making recordkeeping determina tions since their Issuance in 1982." The assumption that most employers follow the system is too broad and unfounded. Delete "..or from.." Clarify wording. Change the last word from "exposure" to "last possible causal exposure or last day of employment if causal exposure is Change first paragraph to "Yes. If it is determined through investigation that a work related recordable injury did occur. It must be included on the OSHA No. 200, even though the determination was made several weeks after the injury occurred. There must be evidence of a work relationship to the injury. The actual date of injury should be entered in column B of the loc.1 Illness logging requirement is generally based on diagnosis date; however, this cannot be followed for retired persons. Clarify work relationship. BOR 007938 PAGE 29135 29135 29136 29136 29136 29136 29137 PARAGRAPH B-10.A B-I3.A B-16.A B-17.A C Chart 2 C-l A .0 CHANGE REASON Delete "...for a brief period of time..." and add the second sentence of the answer to B-ll, i.e.( "the focus is not on the length..." Delete B-ll Q4A. These conflict, as written. Change first sentence to "Pre-existing conditions are not considered relevant in making determinations of recordability under the OSH Act unless they are the sole cause of an Injury and except for the recurrence of work-related illness discussed in B-12 above." Clarification. Change answer to "If an event occurred in the environment that caused or contributed to the injury, the case would be recordable, assuming it meets the other requirements for recordability. It is necessary to determine whether the back problem could have been reasonably caused by an event at work, whether it is solely the result of a pre-existing condition (see B-14 and B-15), or whether it may be a case with symptoms that merely surface on the employer's premise (see B-17)." Need to provide evaluatory parameters. Change first paragraph to "There must be an event or exposure in the work environment which causes or contributes to the Injury. If an event or exposure cannot be identified, then this condition cannot be met. If work relationship cannot be established, the injury is not recordable. The employer has a responsibility and duty to fully investigate the case in order to identify a causative event or exposure." Act requires recording of "...work related..." injuries, not recording of likely work-related injuries. Work relationship (event or exposure) must be established. Change paragraphs as recommended for P. 29107-D. Combine "on- and off- employer's premises" blocks. Delete "presumed work-related" block. See previous comments. To be consistent with 1C- work relationshin. BOR 007939 Delete second sentence. ("Inquiries occur- Redundant. Covered under 1 Cl. PAGE 29137 29137 29137 29137 29137 29138 29138 PARAGRAPH C-2 A C-3 A C-6 A C-7 A C-8 Q4A C-9, A2 C-ll, A -6CHANGE ring... related.") and delete "yea." Eliminate last two sentences. Add "personal" after "employee" In first sentence. Change last sentence to "...be con sidered work related if the employee was engaged in work-related activity or the injury arose from an environmental activity or the injury arose from an environmental condition (i.e., icy walkway or hole in surface)." Change second sentence in answer to read "...worker is present in the Interest of the employer." Change the Word "all" in the second sentence to "most." Delete second 1. Delete. Delete. Delete second paragraph. BOR 007 REASON See comment on P. 29107, D,l,b. There is basically no difference in the principle of using recreational or health facilities for personal reasons; whether they are located "within" the work environment or "apart" is not germane. The current emphasis on improving employees' health through fitness programs mandates we not penalize companies which provide such facilities. Statistics clearly Bhow the value of such programs in improving the quality of life of employees; this is an important benefit which should not be denied because of an arbitrary ruling to consider injuries Incurred as occupational, as long as the program and facility use is optional and is not required by the employer. See comment on P. 29107, D,1,C. Unclear and confusing. Does not support defini tion of work relationship. Would preclude use of employer's premises for personal reasons. See above comments. Keeping "simple boundaries" should not result in unfair recording. Previously covered. This is a poor example. If this is personal option, it would not be work related. However, it is required for the employee to pick up paycheck after work, it would be work related. if Guideline does not necessarily accomplish this. The first paragraph satisfies the reason. PAGE 29138 29138 29138 29138 29139 PARAGRAPH 2 C-15 . A C-16 q&A C-19 Q&A C-20 Q&A CHANGE REASON Add to this paragraph, "Employees who travel on company business shall be considered in the course of employment all the time they spend in the interest of company, including, but not limited to, travel to and from customer contacts, entertaining or being entertained for the purpose of transacting, discussing or promoting business. However, an Injury/Illness would not be tabulatable if it occurred during normal living activi ties (eating, sleeping, recreation); or if the employee deviates from a reasonably direct route of travel, (side trip for vacation or other personal reasons). He would again be in the course of employment when he returned to the normal route of travel. If an employee establishes a home away from home (hotel, motel, etc.), injuries sustained during travel to/from the temporary work site are considered off the job. See Comment P. 29107, D,2. A home away from home is established when employee enters hotel or motel property. Sales personnel may establish only one office (home or company office). A sales person with his home as an office is con sidered at work when he 1b in that office and when he l'eaves his premises in the interest of the company." Add to the second sentence, "...unless the employee was requested to perform the errand by the employer." Would then be acting for the employer, and be work related. Delete. Delete. Redundant. Covered under 29138-2. Previously covered under "home away from home" concept. Delete. Previously covered under "home away from home" concept. BOR 007941 'page 29139 29139 29140 29141 29142 29142 29142 29143 29143 29143 29144 29144 PARAGRAPH C-22, A D-4, A D-6 Q4A E-2 QSA E-12 QAA d, 1 3 -o- CHANGE REASON Delete (2) clause. Delete second paragraph. Persons may be on travel status even though they are not off the premises for more than a normal workday. Unnecessary. Also "simple recordkeeping" is no reason for Improper recordkeeping. Comment. This is an example of why a "first aid" illness category is necessary. There is little significance of this type illness and to penalize an employer by Including it in the total recordable incidence rate adversly affects the 8LS statistical credibility. Delete. Already covered. Delete. Highly unlikely case. He recommend including a definition of first aid illness as one which requires one time first aid treatment; no loss of conscious ness, restriction of work or motion or transfer to another job; application of nonprescription medication and other applicable guidelines from the first aid injury section. See conment on P. 29121. Change "of" to "or." Hispelled word. Not on Tetanus Admission to Hospital F-3, A F-12 Q&A F-15, A Add "not" before "considered." Delete "or prolonged observation." Correct spelling of "FOCUS." Delete. Change answer to "Use of prescription medication to treat an occupational injury normally constitutes medical treatment. However, it is considered first aid when a single dose or application of a prescription medication is given on the first visit This needs to be consistent with note on P. 29109. Need to be consistent with previous comments on this topic. Who judges "prolonged"? Already covered on P. 29143. There are a very large number of minor injuries for which prescription medication is given for solely preventive purposes and for the comfort of the injured. In order to avoid recording a large and misleading number of insignificant injuries, there should be a criteria for determining the BOR 007942 PAGE PARAGRAPH 29144 29146 29149 29151 29160 F-16, Q B-2, A A-5, A Formula App. C Rev. 9/20/85 CHANGE merely as a preventative measure in the interest of the employee or for possible pain." Correct spelling of "SOLELY." In the first sentence, change "able" to "unable." Delete second and third paragraphs. Change "N * number of injuries and Illnesses (except first aid cases), and fatalities." Delete the table of "conditions" or diseases in lieu of the following: "The reader is referred to the current Sentinel Health Event List (Occupational) as prepared by NIOSH. (List source)." Sentences that are presently expressed in Appendix C should be adjusted to the above change if it is felt the Ideas they express are sufficiently important to be Included. Other references may be offered also. REASON seriousness of the Injury. Answer does not fit example. Second paragraph is incorrect. Third paragraph is redundant. Clarity. This listing has two disadvantages: 1. It is bulky, cumbersome, and leads to a Iobs of focus on procedures. 2. It is dated material which will change as additional information is accumulated. Such changes should not force publishing a new standard with each addition to the list. Further, according to the authors of the Sentinel Health Event, Occupational, SHE(O), article (American Journal of Public Health, 73:1054, 1983), these designations were intended for physicians and researchers. They were first described in 1976, and apparently were diseases which the authors considered "negative indices of medical care." The abbreviation SHE(O) is really just an educatloned guess of an occupational disease; and the designation carries a negative connotation. Diagnosis is often a difficult task for a trained physician. The concept of a lay person selecting a sign or symptom from a list is completely unacceptable as a basis for diagnosis or chronicling an event on the OSHA Log 200. Any listing can only be used as an indication to refer the situation to a trained physician. BOR 007943