What injuries and illness aren’t recordable?

Any illness or injury that happens in the work environment is assumed to be work-related unless one of the exceptions applies. These are specifically listed in 1904.5(b)(2). An employer is not required to record an injury or illness if one of the following nine exceptions is met:

1. Member of the general public — If, at the time of the injury or illness, the employee was present as a member of the general public rather than as an employee, it is not recordable. For example, an employee of a hardware store is injured while shopping in the store on his day off.
2. Symptoms surface at work — If the injury or illness involves signs or symptoms that surface at work, but is caused solely from a non-work related event or exposure, it is not recordable. For example, an employee has an epileptic seizure and breaks an arm during convulsions. The injury was caused solely by the seizure. Epilepsy is a non–occupational condition, so the resulting injury is not work–related.
3. Voluntary participation in wellness programs or recreational activities — If the injury or illness results solely from voluntary participation in a wellness program or in a medical, fitness, or recreational activity (e.g., blood donation, physical examination, flu shot, exercise class, baseball) it is not recordable. For example, an employee passes out while giving blood during a company–sponsored (but voluntary) blood drive.
4. Eating, drinking, or preparing food — If 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, it is not recordable. For example, an employee chokes on a sandwich brought from home or bought in the cafeteria.
   
   However, this exception does not apply to food provided by the employer for company functions. If an employee gets food poisoning from meal provided by the employer at a business meeting, it is work–related.Also, it is important to note that this exception applies only to injuries or illnesses that result from food or food preparation. Other injuries that occur in a lunchroom or cafeteria (e.g., slips or falls) are not covered by the exception and may result in a recordable case.
5. Personal tasks — Injuries or illnesses are not recordable if they happen when an employee is doing personal tasks that are unrelated to their job and the activity is outside of assigned working hours. For example, an employee comes in after work and uses a conference room to work on a child’s science project.
   
   OSHA has ruled that breaks (e.g., lunch breaks) are within assigned working hours.
   
   As such, an employee who falls down and gets hurt during a smoking break is not exempt because the break was within assigned working hours. Also, an employee who stays after hours to finish a project is not performing a personal task, and any injury would be work-related. To be exempt, both conditions must be in place.
6. Personal grooming — An injury or illness is not recordable if it is solely the result of personal grooming, self medication for a non–work–related condition, or is intentionally self–inflicted. For example, an employee has an allergic reaction to a personal medication.
   
   However, if an employee falls and is injured while showering to remove a contaminant that he was exposed to on the job, it would be a recordable incident.
   
   And although drug and alcohol use fall under this exception, an injury must be solely the result of drug or alcohol use to not be recordable. If a post-accident drug test is positive, it is reasonable to think that impaired judgment lead to the accident. However, the accident may not have been solely caused by the drug as other workplace factors may have contributed.
7. Vehicle accidents — If the injury or illness is caused by a vehicle accident in a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work, it is not recordable.
   
   Other injuries in the parking lot or access road are work-related and potentially recordable. Company parking lots are part of the work environment because the employee is present as a condition of employment. If an employee is injured by slipping on ice or tripping in a pothole while walking from car to building, it would be recordable.
   
   However, if an employee is struck by a car in the company parking lot, the injury is not recordable because the employer has no control over the driver of the vehicle. The same is true for injuries that occur in public parking lots or on public streets. They are not recordable because the employer has no control over conditions in these areas — they are not part of the employers “work environment.”
8. Common cold and flu — The common cold or flu is not recordable, even if the illnesses are contracted at work. However, other infectious diseases like tuberculosis, brucellosis, or hepatitis A must be evaluated for work relationships. If an employee is infected at work through exposure to another worker’s blood, then the case is recordable.
9. Mental illness — Mental illness is not recordable unless the employee voluntarily provides an opinion from a physician or licensed health care professional (e.g., psychiatrist, psychologist) stating that the employee has a mental illness that is work–related. For example, an employee who witnesses a serious accident is traumatized and requires time away from work.