South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 71 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, LICENSING AND REGULATION-DIVISION OF LABOR › Article 1 - OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS › Subarticle 3 - RECORDING AND REPORTING OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AND ILLNESSES › Subpart C - Recording Criteria › Section 71-305 - Determination of work-relatedness

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
(a)
				  Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be work-related if
				  an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to
				  the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a preexisting injury or
				  illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from
				  events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception in
				  71-305(b)(2) specifically applies.
(b) Implementation.
(1) What is the "work environment"? OSHA
				  defines the work environment as "the establishment and other locations where
				  one or more employees are working or are present as a condition of their
				  employment. The work environment includes not only physical location, but also
				  the equipment or materials used by the employee during the course of his or her
				  work."
(2) Are there situations
				  where an injury or illness occurs in the work environment and is not considered
				  work-related? Yes, an injury or illness occurring in the work environment that
				  falls under one of the following exceptions is not work-related, and therefore
				  is not recordable.
71-305(b)(2)
You are not required to record injuries and
								  illnesses if ...
(i)
At the time of the injury or illness, the
								  employee was present in the work environment as a member of the general public
								  rather than as an employee.
(ii)
The injury or illness involves signs or symptoms
								  that surface at work but result solely from a non-work-related event or
								  exposure that occurs outside the work environment.
(iii)
The injury or illness results solely from
								  voluntary participation in a wellness program or in a medical, fitness, or
								  recreational activity such as blood donation, physical examination, flu shot,
								  exercise class, racquetball, or baseball.
(iv)
The injury or illness is solely the result of an
								  employee eating, drinking, or preparing food or drink for personal consumption
								  (whether bought on the employer's premises or brought in). For example, if the
								  employee is injured by choking on a sandwich while in the employer's
								  establishment, the case would not be considered work-related.
NOTE: If the employee is made ill by ingesting
								  food contaminated by workplace contaminants (such as lead), or gets food
								  poisoning from food supplied by the employer, the case would be considered
								  work-related.
(v)
The injury or illness is solely the result of an
								  employee doing personal tasks (unrelated to their employment) at the
								  establishment outside of the employee's assigned working hours.
(vi)
The injury or illness is solely the result of
								  personal grooming, self-medication for a non-work-related condition, or is
								  intentionally self-inflicted.
(vii)
The injury or illness is caused by a motor
								  vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road
								  while the employee is commuting to or from work.
(viii)
The illness is the common cold or flu (Note:
								  contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, hepatitis A, or plague
								  are considered work-related if the employee is infected at work).
(ix)
The illness is a mental illness. Mental illness
								  will not be considered work-related unless the employee voluntarily provides
								  the employer with an opinion from a physician or other licensed health care
								  professional with appropriate training and experience (psychiatrist,
								  psychologist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, etc.) stating that the employee
								  has a mental illness that is work-related.
(3)
				  How do I handle a case if it is not obvious whether the precipitating event or
				  exposure occurred in the work environment or occurred away from work? In these
				  situations, you must evaluate the employee's work duties and environment to
				  decide whether or not one or more events or exposures in the work environment
				  either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly
				  aggravated a pre-existing condition.
(4) How do I know if an event or exposure in
				  the work environment "significantly aggravated" a preexisting injury or
				  illness? A preexisting injury or illness has been significantly aggravated, for
				  purposes of OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping, when an event or exposure in
				  the work environment results in any of the following:
(i) Death, provided that the preexisting
				  injury or illness would likely not have resulted in death but for the
				  occupational event or exposure.
(ii) Loss of consciousness, provided that the
				  preexisting injury or illness would likely not have resulted in loss of
				  consciousness but for the occupational event or exposure.
(iii) One or more days away from work, or
				  days of restricted work, or days of job transfer that otherwise would not have
				  occurred but for the occupational event or exposure.
(iv) Medical treatment in a case where no
				  medical treatment was needed for the injury or illness before the workplace
				  event or exposure, or a change in medical treatment was necessitated by the
				  workplace event or exposure.
(5) Which injuries and illness are considered
				  pre-existing conditions? An injury or illness is a preexisting condition if it
				  resulted solely from a non-work-related event or exposure that occurred outside
				  the work environment.
(6) How do I
				  decide whether an injury or illness is work-related if the employee is on
				  travel status at the time the injury or illness occurs? Injuries or illnesses
				  that occur while an employee is on travel status are work-related if, at the
				  time of the injury or illness, the employee was engaged in work activities "in
				  the interest of the employer." Examples of such activities include travel to
				  and from customer contacts, conducting job tasks, and entertaining or being
				  entertained to transact, discuss, or promote business (work-related
				  entertainment includes only entertainment activities being engaged in at the
				  direction of the employer). Injuries or illnesses that occur when the employee
				  is on travel status do not have to be recorded if they meet one of the
				  exceptions listed below.
71-305(b)(6)
If the employee has...
You may use the following to determine if an
								  injury or illness is work-related
(i)
checked into a hotel or motel for one or more
								  days.
When a traveling employee checks into a hotel,
								  motel or into another temporary residence, he or she establishes a "home away
								  from home." You must evaluate the employee's activities after he or she checks
								  into the hotel, motel, or other temporary residence for their work-relatedness
								  in the same manner as you evaluate the activities of a non-traveling employee.
								  When the employee checks into the temporary residence, he or she is considered
								  to have left the work environment. When the employee begins work each day, he
								  or she re-enters the work environment. If the employee has established a "home
								  away from home" and is reporting to a fixed worksite each day, you also do not
								  consider injuries or illnesses work-related if they occur while the employee is
								  commuting between the temporary residence and the job location.
(ii)
taken a detour for personal reasons.
Injuries or illnesses are not considered
								  work-related if they occur while the employee is on a personal detour from a
								  reasonably direct route of travel (e.g., has taken a side trip for personal
								  reasons).
(7)
				  How do I decide if a case is work-related when the employee is working at home?
				  Injuries and illnesses that occur while an employee is working at home,
				  including work in a home office, will be considered work-related if the injury
				  or illness occurs while the employee is performing work for pay or compensation
				  in the home, and the injury or illness is directly related to the performance
				  of work rather than to the general home environment or setting. For example, if
				  an employee drops a box of work documents and injures his or her foot, the case
				  is considered work-related. If an employee's fingernail is punctured by a
				  needle from a sewing machine used to perform garment work at home, becomes
				  infected and requires medical treatment, the injury is considered work-related.
				  If an employee is injured because he or she trips on the family dog while
				  rushing to answer a work phone call, the case is not considered work-related.
				  If an employee working at home is electrocuted because of faulty home wiring,
				  the injury is not considered work-related. (Cross Reference: 1904.5)