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MAYHEM
Question: Employee A is assigned to the role of grilling hamburgers and hotdogs during a summer workday luncheon. While attempting to scrape the grill his hand slips is plunged into hot coals resulting in 1st degree burns and an overnight stay at the hospital. When Employee A pulled jerked away from the hot coals, he accidentally knocked a plate of food out of Employee B's hand and startled her so badly that she inhaled a piece of hotdog and began choking. Employee C rushes to Employee B's aid but slips on the plate, hits his head on the side of the grill, loses consciousness and sends coals flying toward a group of employees standing in the grass. Employee D performs a successful Heimlich maneuver on Employee B. The hot coals raining down on employees cause a stampede. Employee E sprains their ankle trying to run in high heels and is issued over-the-counter ibuprofen but returns to normal duty the next day. One of the hot coals landed in the bushes next to the office building and causes a blaze that spreads quickly through an open window into the office space. The automatic sprinkler kicks on and contains the fire but 15 employees (10 company employees and 5 employees from another company) end up receiving oxygen as treatment for smoke inhalation. For each of the incidents mentioned above, can you answer the question; is it recordable?
Answer: Employee A
YES. This is recordable because the injured occurred in the work environment during the normal workday, he was seriously injured, and no exceptions apply to this incident. Furthermore, the hospitalization must be reported to OSHA within 24 hours.
1904.39(a)(2): Within twenty-four (24) hours after the in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees or an employee's amputation or an employee's loss of an eye, as a result of a work-related incident, you must report the in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye to OSHA.
Employee B
NO. The employee was not injured.
Employee C
YES. This employee lost consciousness. Loss of consciousness meets OSHA recordkeeping criteria for a recordable incident.
1904.7(a): Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recording criteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
Employee D
NO. The employee was provided over-the-counter ibuprofen which is not considered medical treatment beyond first aid.
OSHA First Aid List: [First aid means] using a nonprescription medication at nonprescription strength (for medications available in both prescription and non-prescription form, a recommendation by a physician or other licensed health care professional to use a non-prescription medication at prescription strength is considered medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes);
Smoke Inhalation Victims
YES. Being provided oxygen as treatment for smoke inhalation is considered medical treatment beyond first aid. In this case, each employer must record for their own employees. One company must add 10 recordables and the other company must add 5.
Letter of Interpretation: The administration of oxygen is considered medical treatment for OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping purposes. If an employee is symptomatic of a work-related injury or illness (e.g., respiratory distress from smoke inhalation) and is administered oxygen, the case is recordable.