TIP OF THE WEEK

November 20, 2009

Did you know...?

Understand the injury and illness recordkeeping requirements by taking it step by step

Now more than ever, employers must understand how and when to record employee injuries and illnesses, as well as what not to record. Taking a step-by-step approach can help you determine if your company is covered, and if so, how to document and maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses.

Step 1: Determine whether the recordkeeping rule applies

In general, all employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act are required to keep work-related injury and illness records. However, employers with 10 or fewer employees, and businesses in low-hazard industrial classifications are exempt from routinely recording injuries and illnesses.

Step 2: Make sure that you use the correct forms

There are three forms that you must be aware of — OSHA 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report, and the OSHA 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. (Download forms at: http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/OSHArecordkeepingforms.pdf).

Step 3: Determine the employment status of your workers

In addition to full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers, you have to record the injuries and illnesses of employees who are not on your payroll, such as temporary and leased workers — if you supervise them on a day-to-day basis.

Step 4: Decide if an injury or illness is work-related

Work-relatedness is presumed for an injury or illness resulting from an event or exposure occurring in the workplace.

Step 5: Determine if a case is recordable

An injury or illness is recordable if it is work-related, a new case, and results in any of the following outcomes:

Death,
Days away from work,
Restricted work or job transfer,
Medical treatment beyond first aid,
Loss of consciousness, or
A significant injury or illness.

Step 6: Decide if a case is new or a continuation

An injury or illness is considered a “new case” if the employee:

Has not previously experienced a recorded injury or illness of the same type that affects the same part of the body, or
Previously experienced a recorded injury or illness of the same type that affected the same part of the body but had recovered completely (all signs and symptoms had disappeared) from the previous injury or illness and an event or exposure in the work environment caused the signs or symptoms to reappear.

Step 7: Determine if the injury/illness is a privacy case

OSHA has identified certain types of workplace injuries or illnesses to be “privacy cases” where the employer must conceal the employee’s identity. If you have a privacy concern case, you cannot enter the employee’s name on the 300 Log. Instead, enter “privacy case” in the space normally used for the employee’s name.

Step 8: Record specific types of cases

These types of cases must be recorded:

Work-related needle stick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated.
Situations where employees are removed from hazardous situations because of over-exposure to hazards — called medical removal.
Work-related hearing losses of 10 decibel shifts that result in a total 25 decibel shift above audiometric zero.
Occupational exposure to Tuberculosis.
Work-related injuries and illnesses related to musculoskeletal disorders.

Step 9: Report fatalities and hospitalization incidents

You must verbally report the death of an employee or the in-patient hospitalization of three or more employees as a result of a work-related incident within eight hours, either by telephone or in person, to your local OSHA office.

To learn more about Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements visit the OSHA website at: http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/index.html.

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We now have a limited amount of H1N1 flu vaccine at our Adult Quick Care clinical facilities. If you or your employees fall in to one of the priority groups (all health care workers; pregnant women; young adults ages 14 to 24 years; adults 25 to 64 years with significant underlying medical conditions; persons living with or caring for children under 6 months of age) please call to confirm the clinical facility has vaccine before heading over. See below for locations and phone numbers.

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***We are now open Saturdays at our Independence location from 9am – 1pm to serve your occupational medicine and urgent care needs***

*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*

To view the Tip of the Week in Spanish please visit our Tip of the Week library at http://www.ohscompcare.com/totw/.

To learn more about services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services Team at (816) 561-2105 option 1 or by e-mail at customerservice@ohscompcare.com. You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.

Why choose us? Because OHS-COMPCARE has a physician on call 24/7/365 days a year to respond to our client's needs.

OHS-COMPCARE now featuring Adult Quick Care (Urgent Care Services) has seven (7) area clinical facilities:

Independence Clinical Facility	Johnson County Clinical Facility	St. Joseph Clinical Facility	Grandview Clinical Facility
19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200	10415 Lackman Road	904 Edmond Street	13830 S Us Highway 71
Independence, MO 64055	Lenexa, KS 66219	St. Joseph, MO 64501	Grandview, MO 64030
816-478-9299	913-495-9905	816-233-7702	816-761-4664
After Hours Available *Now open Saturday 9am – 1pm

KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility	KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility	Wyandotte County Clinical Facility
1650 Broadway	6501 East Commerce, Suite 110	1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200
Kansas City, MO 64108	Kansas City, MO 64120	Kansas City, KS 66102
816-842-2020	816-483-5550	913-596-2774

Adult Quick Care provides Urgent Care to Adults and Adolescents Age 14 and Older.

No appointment is necessary at Adult Quick Care.

When you are sick or have a new injury, Adult Quick Care is your affordable, time saving choice for quality care.

To learn more about Adult Quick Care please call 816-559-6320 or visit www.adultquickcare.com.