• If an injury or illness happens at work, it is most likely considered work-related.

Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses that occur at work unless a specific exemption applies. To be work related, injuries and illnesses do not need to have a clear connection to a specific work activity, condition, or substance that is peculiar to the employment environment. For instance, an employee may trip for no reason on a clean, dry, level factory floor. However, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says that a causal connection is established by the fact that the injury would not have occurred but for the conditions and obligations of employment that placed the employee in the position to be injured or made ill. In other words, if it happens at work, it’s most likely work related. This is known as the geographic presumption.

If an employee gets injured in the work environment before they punched in, is the case work related even if that employee was not on the clock for pay?

Yes. For purposes of OSHA recordkeeping, injuries and illnesses occurring in the work environment are considered work-related. Punching in and out with a time clock (or signing in and out) does not affect the determination of work-relatedness. If the employee experienced a work-related injury or illness and it meets one or more of the general recording criteria, it must be entered on the employer's OSHA 300 log.