OSHA Relaxes Recording and Reporting Requirements for Some Employers Regarding COVID-19 Cases in their Workforce
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Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers have a legal obligation to provide safe and healthful workplaces for their workers. It is the mission of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set and enforce standards and provide education to ensure that these healthful workplaces are provided.
04.15.20
To try to help employers grappling with the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has been issuing interim guidelines to provide “enforcement flexibilities” regarding certain agency standards. Most recently, on Friday, April 10, 2020, OSHA issued interim guidance that relaxes the recording and reporting requirements when a worker tests positive for COVID-19. Before this April 10 guidance and because OSHA made it clear that COVID-19 could be a recordable illness, employers have been required to record and report a confirmed case of the virus in their workforce if they determined that it was work-related under the law.
Effective immediately and until further notice, however, employers in areas where there is ongoing community transmission and that are not in the healthcare industry, emergency response, or corrections are no longer expected to make such a determination, and therefore need not report a case of COVID-19, except when:
- There is “objective evidence” that a COVID-19 case may be work-related (i.e., workers who work closely together became infected and there is no evidence of an alternate source of the outbreak); and
- The objective evidence is “reasonably available to the employer” in the ordinary course of managing its business and employees.
OSHA has justified this most recent “enforcement flexibility” by stating that it wants employers to “focus their response efforts on implementing good hygiene practices in their workplaces and otherwise mitigating COVID-19’s effects, rather than on making difficult work-relatedness decisions in circumstances where there is community transmission.” Importantly, the April 10, 2020 Interim Guidance has not changed the reporting and recording requirements of employers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations and correctional institutions.
The Coronavirus Task Force at Klehr Harrison stands ready to assist you in your business and legal needs. We will continue to provide additional information and guidance as the COVID-19 situation develops.
Author Lee D. Moylan is a partner in the labor & employment practice group at Klehr Harrison.