ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT
Portable Sanitation Association International News
BIWEEKLY EDITION OCTOBER 28, 2020
Page 9 Continued on page 10
Updated Requirements for Reporting
Work-Related Cases of COVID-19
By Karleen Kos, PSAI's Executive Director
On September 30, 2020 the U.S. Department of Labor's
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has
published additional frequently asked questions and answers
(FAQs) regarding the need to report employees' in-patient
hospitalizations and fatalities resulting from work-related cases
of the coronavirus.
OSHA's new FAQs provide information to help employers
apply the agency's existing injury and illness recording and
reporting requirements to the coronavirus. In particular,
the FAQs provide guidance on how to calculate reporting
deadlines for in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities and
clarify the meaning of the term "incident" as it relates to work-
related coronavirus in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities.
These FAQs are the latest effort by OSHA to provide employers and employees with more information about how
it will enforce its standards and regulations during the pandemic. OSHA has also previously published revised
enforcement guidance detailing how OSHA will enforce the record-keeping requirements of 29 CFR 1904 for
employee coronavirus illnesses for all employers.
Visit OSHA's COVID-19 web page for further information and resources about the coronavirus.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful
workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to help ensure these conditions for America's working men and
women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education, and assistance. Click here for more
information.
What This Means
In general, employers will rarely have to report COVID-19-related
hospitalizations due to the virus's lengthy incubation period.
Under this new interpretation, employers must more frequently
report COVID-19-related deaths and must continue to record
numerous COVID-19 cases among their employees on their
OSHA 300 log.
According to Jonathan Snare, an attorney with Morgan Lewis
in Washington, D.C. who was quoted by the Society for Human
Resource Management (SHRM), "There had been some confusion
as to the meaning of the 'work-related incident' triggering the time frames for reporting." OSHA has now made it
clear that the reporting time frames are triggered by an exposure to COVID-19 at work, rather than a diagnosis.
States have differing occupational safety and health laws and COVID-19 regulations. Consequently, it is important
for employers to check their states' reporting requirements because they may be more stringent, particularly in
California, New Mexico, Virginia, and—soon—Oregon.
