Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION OCTOBER 28, 2020 Page 10 Update: Reporting Work-Related Cases of COVID-19…Continued from page 9 Continued on page 13 It is also important that employers take care to distinguish between reporting and recording requirements. Generally, reporting involves contacting OSHA via phone or website and giving them information that could launch a full OSHA inspection. Currently, when deaths due to work-related COVID-19 cases occur, OSHA is almost certain to inspect. Recording involves noting a work-related incident on the OSHA 300 log, which is kept internally and is not necessarily reported to OSHA. When You Must Report OSHA has had reporting guidelines in place for many years, and these have not been changed by COVID-19. As most employers are aware: • All employers are required to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. • A fatality must be reported within 8 hours. • An in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours. The clarification issued September 30 simply addressed how COVID-19 cases must be treated with respect to reporting. OSHA clarified: To be reportable, a hospitalization due to COVID-19 must happen within 24 hours of an exposure to the virus at work. In addition, the employer must report the hospitalization within 24 hours of knowing that the employee has been hospitalized and that the reason for hospitalization was a work-related case of COVID-19 Eric Conn, an attorney with Conn Maciel Carey in Washington, D.C., told SHRM that if the employee has only been in the waiting room or emergency room within 24 hours, but not admitted to the hospital, this doesn't qualify as a reportable hospitalization. For example, suppose an employee leaves work after displaying symptoms on November 2 at 4:00 p.m. The employee goes home, but the symptoms get worse and he checks himself into the hospital on November 3 at 9:00 a.m. This would be reportable since his last exposure date at work was within 24 hours. If the employee did not check into the hospital until November 5, "This would not be reportable since his last work-related exposure date was after 24 hours." Here's another example. Suppose employees Lucy and Ricky were both admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 infections on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. and your company agrees that Lucy's and Ricky's infections are work-related. Lucy was last at work on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., and Ricky was last at work on Wednesday at 3:00 pm. Lucy's case would not be reportable because she was not hospitalized within 24 hours of being exposed to COVID-19 at work. Ricky's case is reportable because he was last at work only 19 hours earlier.

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