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1 

DLA-SM ACCESSING MEDICAL RECORDS PROGRAM

May 2022 

PURPOSE

The purpose of this program is to provide employees a right of access to relevant exposure and 

medical records; and to provide the Safety Manager a right of access to these records in order to 

fulfill responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Access by employees and 

the Safety Manager is necessary to yield both direct and indirect improvements in the detection, 

treatment, and prevention of occupational disease. The program applies when employees have 

exposure records or medical records that they themselves request or for others with a need to 

know who require access. 

DEFINITIONS

Access means the right and opportunity to examine and copy. 

Analysis using exposure or medical records means any compilation of data or any statistical 

study based at least in part on information collected from individual employee exposure or 

medical records or information collected from health insurance claims records, provided that 

either the analysis has been reported to the employer or no further work is currently being done 

by the person responsible for preparing the analysis. 

Designated representative means any individual or organization to whom an employee gives 

written authorization to exercise a right of access. For the purposes of access to employee 

exposure records and analyses using exposure or medical records, a recognized or certified 

collective bargaining agent shall be treated automatically as a designated representative without 

regard to written employee authorization. 

Employee means a current employee, a former employee, or an employee being assigned or 

transferred to work where there will be exposure to toxic substances or harmful physical agents. 

In the case of a deceased or legally incapacitated employee, the employee's legal representative 

may directly exercise all the employee's rights. 

Employee exposure record means a record containing any of the following kinds of 

information: 

• Environmental (workplace) monitoring or measuring of a toxic substance or harmful 

physical agent, including personal, area, grab, wipe, or other form of sampling, as well as 

related collection and analytical methodologies, calculations, and other background data 

relevant to interpretation of the results obtained; 

• Biological monitoring results which directly assess the absorption of a toxic substance or 

harmful physical agent by body systems (e.g., the level of a chemical in the blood, urine, 

breath, hair, fingernails, etc) but not including results which assess the biological effect of 

a substance or agent, or which assess an employee's use of alcohol or drugs; 

• Safety data sheets indicating that the material may pose a hazard to human health; or
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• In the absence of the above, a chemical inventory or any other record which reveals 

where and when used and the identity (e.g., chemical, common, or trade name) of a toxic 

substance or harmful physical agent. 

Employee medical record means a record concerning the health status of an employee which is 

made or maintained by a physician, nurse, or other health care personnel or technician, 

including: 

• Medical and employment questionnaires or histories (including job description and 

occupational exposures), 

• The results of medical examinations (pre-employment, pre-assignment, periodic, or 

episodic) and laboratory tests (including chest and other X-ray examinations taken for the 

purposes of establishing a baseline or detecting occupational illness, and all biological 

monitoring not defined as an “employee exposure record”), 

• Medical opinions, diagnoses, progress notes, and recommendations, 

• First aid records,

• Descriptions of treatments and prescriptions, and 

• Employee medical complaints.

"Employee medical record" does not include medical information in the form of: 

• Physical specimens (e.g., blood or urine samples) which are routinely discarded as a part 

of normal medical practice; or

• Records concerning health insurance claims if maintained separately from the employer's 

medical program and its records, and not accessible to the employer by employee name 

or other direct personal identifier (e.g., social security number, payroll number, etc.); or 

• Records created solely in preparation for litigation which are privileged from discovery 

under the applicable rules of procedure or evidence; or 

• Records concerning voluntary employee assistance programs (alcohol, drug abuse, or 

personal counseling programs) if maintained separately from the employer's medical 

program and its records. 

Employer means a current employer, a former employer, or a successor employer.

Exposure or exposed means that an employee is subjected to a toxic substance or harmful 

physical agent in the course of employment through any route of entry (inhalation, ingestion, 

skin contact or absorption, etc.), and includes past exposure and potential (e.g., accidental or 

possible) exposure, but does not include situations where the employer can demonstrate that the 

toxic substance or harmful physical agent is not used, handled, stored, generated, or present in 

the workplace in any manner different from typical non-occupational situations. 

Health Professional means a physician, occupational health nurse, industrial hygienist, 

toxicologist, or epidemiologist, providing medical or other occupational health services to 

exposed employees. 

Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information regardless of the form or process 

by which it is maintained (e.g., paper document, microfiche, microfilm, X-ray film, or automated 

data processing). 
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Specific chemical identity means the chemical name, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) 

Registry Number, or any other information that reveals the precise chemical designation of the 

substance.

Specific written consent means a written authorization containing the following: 

• The name and signature of the employee authorizing the release of medical information, 

• The date of the written authorization,

• The name of the individual or organization that is authorized to release the medical 

information, 

• The name of the designated representative (individual or organization) that is authorized 

to receive the released information,

• A general description of the medical information that is authorized to be released, 

• A general description of the purpose for the release of the medical information, and 

• A date or condition upon which the written authorization will expire (if less than one 

year).

• A written authorization does not operate to authorize the release of medical information 

not in existence on the date of written authorization, unless the release of future 

information is expressly authorized, and does not operate for more than one year from the 

date of written authorization. 

• A written authorization may be revoked in writing prospectively at any time. 

Toxic substance or harmful physical agent means any chemical substance, biological agent 

(bacteria, virus, fungus, etc.), or physical stress (noise, heat, cold, vibration, repetitive motion, 

ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, hypo-or hyperbaric pressure, etc.) which: 

• Is listed in the latest printed edition of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health (NIOSH) Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS), which is 

incorporated by reference as specified in 29 CFR 1910.6; 

• Or has yielded positive evidence of an acute or chronic health hazard in testing conducted 

by, or known to, the employer; 

• Is the subject of a safety data sheet (SDS) kept by or known to the employer indicating 

that the material may pose a hazard to human health.

Trade secret means any confidential formula, pattern, process, device, or information or 

compilation of information that is used in an employer's business and that gives the employer an 

opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it. 

PRESERVATION OF RECORDS

Medical records for DLA-SM employees shall be preserved and maintained for at least the 

duration of employment plus thirty (30) years. 

The following types of records will not be retained for any specified period by DLA-SM 

management:

• Health insurance claims records maintained separately from DLA-SM's medical program 

and its records,
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• First aid records (not including medical histories) of one-time treatment and subsequent 

observation of minor scratches, cuts, burns, splinters, and the like which do not involve 

medical treatment, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to 

another job, if made on-site by a non-physician and if maintained separately from the 

employer's medical program and its records, and 

• The medical records of DLA-SM employees who have worked for less than (1) year need 

not be retained beyond the term of employment if they are provided to the employee 

upon the termination of employment. 

Any DLA-SM employee exposure record shall be preserved and maintained for at least thirty 

(30) years, except that: 

• Background data to environmental (workplace) monitoring or measuring, such as 

laboratory reports and worksheets, need only be retained for one (1) year if the sampling 

results, the collection methodology (sampling plan), a description of the analytical and 

mathematical methods used, and a summary of other background data relevant to 

interpretation of the results obtained, are retained for at least thirty (30) years; and 

• Safety data sheets (SDSs) and records of any chemical inventory or other record 

revealing the use and identity of a toxic substance or harmful physical agent need not be 

retained for any specified period if some record of the identity (chemical name if known) 

of the substance or agent, where it was used, and when it was used is retained for at least 

thirty (30) years; and

• Biological monitoring results designated as exposure records by specific occupational 

safety and health standards shall be preserved and maintained as required by the specific 

standard. 

Analyses using exposure or medical records Each analysis using exposure or medical records 

shall be preserved and maintained for at least thirty (30) years. 

Information contained in a record must be preserved and retrievable, except chest X-ray films 

shall be preserved in their original state. 

PROCEDURE FOR REQUESTING ACCESS OF RECORDS

All DLA-SM employee medical records are maintained by DLA. Each employee can request 

their employee medical record from the servicing agency. 

ACCESS OF EXPOSURE/MEDICAL RECORDS

Emergency access of medical records: 

Where a treating physician or nurse determines that a medical emergency exists and the specific 

chemical identity of a toxic substance is necessary for emergency or first-aid treatment, DLASM shall immediately disclose the specific chemical identity to the treating physician or nurse, 

regardless of the existence of a written statement of need or a confidentiality agreement. DLASM may require a written statement of need and confidentiality agreement, in accordance with 

the provisions of paragraphs 29 CFR 1910.1020(f)(4) and (f)(5) as soon as circumstances permit. 

Non-Emergency access of medical records: 
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In non-emergency situations, DLA-SM shall, upon request, disclose a specific chemical identity, 

otherwise permitted to be withheld under paragraph 29 CFR 1910.1020(f)(2), to a health 

professional, employee, or designated representative if: 

• The request is in writing; 

• The request describes with reasonable detail one or more of the following occupational 

health needs for the information: 

 To assess the hazards of the chemicals to which employees will be exposed; 

 To conduct or assess sampling of the workplace atmosphere to determine 

employee exposure levels;

 To conduct pre-assignment or periodic medical surveillance of exposed 

employees;

 To provide medical treatment to exposed employees; 

 To select or assess appropriate personal protective equipment for exposed 

employees;

 To design or assess engineering controls or other protective measures for 

exposed employees; and 

 To conduct studies to determine the health effects of exposure. 

In accordance with this program and in compliance with the referenced regulation, any entity 

granted authority to access a DLA-SM employee medical/exposure record will be provided free 

copies upon request at no charge to the employee or any other authorizing entity. 

Upon initial entry as a DLA-SM employee and at least annually thereafter, DLA-SM shall 

inform all employees:

• The existence, location, and availability of any exposure/medical records; 

• The person responsible for maintaining and providing access to records (DLA-SM Safety 

Manager); and

• Each employee's rights of access to these records. 

Department of Labor (OSHA) representatives shall be admitted to DLA-SM sites without delay 

and at reasonable times by escorting the OSHA representatives to senior management for the 

operation to be inspected. DLA-SM employees must provide access to all pertinent safety and 

occupational health information regarding the workplace consistent with national security 

requirements. DLA-SM employees may request identification and proof of security clearance as 

appropriate for all DLA-SM areas visited. 

REFERENCES

Occupational Safety and Health Act: General Duty Clause

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95: Occupational Noise Exposure. 

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. 

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.134: Respiratory Protection. 

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1001: Asbestos 
Hard copies of this document may not be the current version. Refer to the “I Am The Key” to

verify the current version.

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OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1020: Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records

OSHA 29 CFR 1926.33: Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records

DLAI 6055.01 Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) Program, 2018

DLAM 6055.01-V1 Mishap and Near Miss Notification, Investigation, Reporting, and Record 

Keeping, 2020

DLAM 6055.01-V2 Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) Inspection and Hazard Management, 

2020

DLAM 6055.01-V3 Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) Training and Awareness, 2020