Recordable/WC Claim
Wild scenario... Had an employee take their break (15 minutes). They decide to sit on the picnic table and while sitting, fall asleep while sitting up. Got in such deep a sleep they fell forward and landed face first on the pavement. The break that is supposed to be 15 minutes was actually over an hour. Employee was terminated because of violating break time policy (on more than on occasion). They did not bring any paperwork from medical treatment past first aid. Come in today and I am greeted with paperwork from a visit that was 3 days after the date of incident. Incident 8/18 medical visit on 8/21. Are we supposed to take this as a claim just cause it was on company property?
Comments (11)
Injuries that occur during “regularly scheduled breaks” are generally not compensable if the claimant is free to use their time as they desire. Wilkie v. Travelers Ins. Co., 124 Ga. App. 714, 183 S.E.2d 783 (1971).
As crazy of a scenario as it is, it, unfortunately, will need to be a work-related incident in the eyes of OSHA since it occurred while he/she was employed at your company, in the work environment, and sustained an injury - the date they sought medical treatment for the injury and/or the status of their employment with the company AFTER the injury are both irrelevant. Whether or not it's an OSHA recordable will depend on what treatment was administerd and whether it meets the general recording criteria of 29 CFR 1904.7. If it does meet the general recording criteria (e.g., treatment beyond first aid), then it will need to be recorded on your OSHA Logs, as OSHA does not differentiate between whether they are being paid or not paid (or working versus "on break").
There are two OSHA standard interpretations out there regarding this matter that will both say it's work-related (links below).
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2010-02-16
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2005-03-10
Worker's compensation, on the other hand, is a different story, but generally speaking, this won't be covered by WC.
Breaks are paid time and it occurred in company property. You own the claim unfortunately.
If on company property during normal working hours and the employee is on the clock, you will probably have an OSHA Recordable unless his passing out was due to a medical condition "not work related" like a heart attack or something. So it really comes down to what a medical person diagnosis.
WC is a state thing, but really again depends on the medical report in most states.
Sadly the fact the injury report by the employee is delayed is a red-flag, but usually may not be used as the deciding factor by law.