Safety Knights

You don't count the first day of injury, but you are counting calendar days. So your first day of restricted or lost time would begin on Saturday and continue from there.

DART is not a customizable counting process, and goes for all as they would not be able to work regardless if they were off or not.

One standardized way to count is kind of crazy in some cases. We had the same issues when we were working shift work. 1 day on 3 days off 24/72 we still counted calendar days.

If you have the ability, always ask the healthcare professional (HPC) to give a date of return to work rather than number of days off. This prevents any confusion. As Chuck said, when scheduling is weird (like for firefighters) and the HCP doesn't give a clear date, it can make things difficult. Does the HCP mean take 5 workdays off or 5 calendar days off? In the world of firefighting 5 workdays can equal 10-15 calendar days.

I would never count in advance. What I means is, don't enter a count until the worker actually returns to duty. If you using some type of safety management software, they will count automatically until a Return to Work date is entered. Of course, you need to make sure the correct start date in entered in the software.

It's always counting calendar days, regardless of whether they're supposed to work. As mentioned already, you start counting your days on the day AFTER the injury/illness, then stop on the day they are fully released from the PLHCP. Regardless of whether they actually take off the number of days recommended by the PLHCP doesn't matter - you record whatever number of days the PLCHP wrote down on the discharge paperwork.

I teach 1904. Everyone is correct! Does not matter the shifts or days worked you count calendar days! The health care person really helps you when they put down a date or return or duties. You also used calendar days for counting restricted days as well. I forget when 1904 changed, I am thinking 2012, but prior to that we counted "work days". We were pulling all kinds of stuff so OSHA changed it! I knew people that got work weeks changed and all kinds of funny stuff by employers.

Don't count the DOI. In you case above the first day off is Saturday. The employee would return to regular work Thursday. If the doctor said 7 days the following Sat you would stop counting regardless what day the employee actually returns to work.

Remember you want the doctor to be as specific as they can be on exactly what are the restrictions on the employee. You also need very good job descriptions! If the doctor says, "No lifting over 25 pounds" and the employee is a supervisor or office worker that can do all their regular job duties lifting under 25 pounds their is NO restrictive work!

One last thought the calendar for counting ends at 180 days! PS Get them back to work ASAP! Every day they are off lessons the chance you will ever get them back! We had a standing rule to all area doctors that unless they were flat on their backs and had IVs in their arms we would accommodate ANY restrictions! A great time to catch up on safety training videos and if worse came to worse we had paper clip inventories with hand counting! It may sound funny but it pays for itself many times over!

Yep

What is really tough is the employee gets hurt late Friday on their normal 5-day, M-F schedule. The doctor says the employee can return to regular work Monday. You are stick with a Lost Time as you must count Saturday and Sunday. I really walked the line by training all the local doctors to write, "May return to next scheduled shift!" We never scheduled restricted employees to work overtime (Saturdays and Sundays). I admit it may not have passed an OSHA Audit. But I figured in the unlikely chance it did get caught I would say I was mistaken. I was tempted to call OSHA and ask them, but an old foundryman once taught me two things: #1 Never ask a question that you do not want to hear the answer and #2 Sometimes it is better to say your are sorry then to ask permission and get turned down.