Is it recordable?
Scenario: Employee is walking toward her office on her way in to work. Shes crosses a city street, and just before reaching the sidewalk (i.e. still walking on the city street), the employee falls to the ground and is injured. Although she was standing on the city street when she fell, the location of injury was on the sidewalk that adjoins her office. According to the employee, the environment did not present any slip or trip hazards - which was confirmed by the company. Instead, the employee advised she fell due to "previous medical issues". Injuries were moderate so the employee was transported to hospital and given treatment beyond first aid.
What makes me question if this is recordable are two factors: geographic location of injury, and her pre-existing condition.
For the location.....I think we would look at the specific location of where her physical injury took place (i.e. sidewalk) versus the location where the incident started (i.e. the city street).
For the pre-existing condition, how does this factor into this specific scenario? Does the fact that she fell as a result of a pre-existing condition - and the fact that the incident started on the city street make this non-recordable?
Comments (19)
I'm going to say the pre-existing condition is going to be an exception from recording it because nothing in the work environment aggravated the pre-existing condition. I would say NOT recordable on that basis alone.
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2014-08-18
I agree with Drew. I would also say that since the employee was not yet at work or performing work for the company it is not a recordable.
I agree with Ron and Drew I think. However, there are two questions here. #1 OSHA Recordable #2 Covered under WC or Medical Insurance? To answer both questions the definitive answer stems from what a Doctor says. for WC in my state it must be a MD, DO, DC, or DPM. The doctor has to say what the injury or condition that caused the incident. If the employee fell on the side walk did she fall because of a medical condition or because of an obstruction, ice and snow, or a raised slab of cement? In my community and state as a property owner I own and am responsible for the sidewalk. So if the fall had to do with something wrong on my property, and since the employee was walking into work, you have an OSHA Recordable.
However, if the doctor says she fell due to something like low blood pressure, heart condition, or something like, that than it is NOT a Recordable! Again the doctor's findings determine the WC decision.
So to me it all comes down to how the doctor says the fall occurred. The same logic is used if someone is walking into the office from the parking lot on premise. If she falls due to ice common in WI in March, it is a Recordable, if due to some pre-existing medical condition, no Recordable. To me the sidewalk in front of my plant is my property just like the parking lot.
Now if the fall was across the street or in the street I could add the "where" to the Non-Recordable argument.
Oh boy, I’m sad I missed this conversation. Lots of stuff to think about. My vote goes for not recordable. Although the worker was injured while walking towards the workplace “as a condition of their employment,” they were not on company property. I guess my question, was it a public sidewalk accessible by all pedestrians or a sidewalk only intended for use by workers? To me that is the deciding factor. My understanding of the responsibility for the sidewalk condition is the basis of my opinion. Can someone point me to the regulation/interpretation/etc that shows the workplace includes the Public sidewalk that adjoins the workplace.
Does the employee walk to work from home? Or is the employee parking in a "employee parking area" then walking to work?
I say this is not a recordable injury due to the location but we may need more information.
OSHA states that for an injury to be recordable it must occur on the employer's premises or when the employee is engaged in work related tasks. This is why we need more information. Why was the employee crossing the street? If this was part of the commute (maybe they take public transit), and they have not arrived on the employee's premises (parking lot), then this injury is not recordable. Public streets and sidewalks are not part of the employer's premises so not recordable.
In a different scenario, the employee parking is across the street from the work location. In this scenario, the employee would be considered to arrived at work once they enter the parking lot and since crossing the street is required to get to work, this would be a recordable injury.