OSHA Recordkeeping Handbook - Msabc.net

of business information. For example, one manufacturingestablishment might include the main plant, awarehouse serving the plant a block away, and anadministrative services building across the street.The final rule also makes it clear that when anemployee telecommutes from home, the employee’shome is not a business establishment for recordkeepingpurposes, and a separate OSHA 300 Log isnot required.The definition of “establishment” is important inOSHA’s recordkeeping system for many reasons.First, the establishment is the basic unit for whichrecords are maintained and summarized. The employermust keep a separate injury and illness Log(the OSHA Form 300), and prepare a single summary(Form 300A), for each establishment. Establishmentspecificrecords are a key component of the recordkeepingsystem because each separate record representsthe injury and illness experience of a givenlocation, and therefore reflects the particular circumstancesand hazards that led to the injuries and illnessesat that location. The establishment-specificsummary, which totals the establishment’s injury andillness experience for the preceding year, is postedfor employees at that establishment and may also becollected by the government for statistical or administrativepurposes.Second, the definition of establishment is importantbecause injuries and illnesses are presumed tobe work-related if they result from events or exposuresoccurring in the work environment, whichincludes the employer’s establishment. The presumptionthat injuries and illnesses occurring in the workenvironment are by definition work-related may berebutted under certain circumstances, which are listedin the final rule and discussed in the section ofthis preamble devoted to section 1904.5, Determinationof work-relatedness.Third, the establishment is the unit that determineswhether the partial exemption from recordkeepingrequirements permitted by the final rule forestablishments of certain sizes or in certain industrysectors applies (see Subpart B of the final rule).Under the final rule’s partial exemption, establishmentsclassified in certain Standard IndustrialClassification codes (SIC codes) are not required tokeep injury and illness records except when asked bythe government to do so. Because a given employermay operate establishments that are classified in differentSIC codes, some employers may be requiredto keep OSHA injury and illness records for someestablishments but not for others, e.g., if one or moreof the employer’s establishments falls under the finalrule’s partial exemption but others do not.Fourth, the definition of establishment is used todetermine which records an employee, formeremployee, or authorized employee representativemay access. According to the final rule, employeesmay ask for, and must be given, injury and illnessrecords for the establishment they currently work in,or one they have worked in, during their employment....Subpart G of the final rule defines “establishment”as “a single physical location where businessis conducted or where services or industrial operationsare performed. For activities such as construction;transportation; communications, electric andgas utility, and sanitary services; and similar operations,the establishment is represented for recordkeepingpurposes by main or branch offices, terminals,stations, etc. that either supervise such activitiesor are the base from which personnel carry out theseactivities.” This part of the definition of “establishment”provides flexibility for employers whoseemployees (such as repairmen, meter readers, andconstruction superintendents) do not work at thesame workplace but instead move between many differentworkplaces, often in the course of a single day.How the definition of “establishment” must beused by employers for recordkeeping purposes is setforth in the answers to the questions posed in thisparagraph of Subpart G:(1) Can one business location include two ormore establishments?(2) Can an establishment include more than onephysical location?(3) If an employee telecommutes from home, ishis or her home considered a separate establishment?The employer may consider two or more economicactivities at a single location to be separate establishments(and thus keep separate OSHA Form 300sand Form 301s for each activity) only when: (1) eachsuch economic activity represents a separate business,(2) no one industry description in the StandardIndustrial Classification Manual (1987) applies to theactivities carried out at the separate locations; and (3)separate reports are routinely prepared on the numberof employees, their wages and salaries, sales orreceipts, and other business information. This part ofthe definition of “establishment” allows for separateestablishments when an employer uses a commonfacility to house two or more separate businesses,but does not allow different departments or divisionsof a single business to be considered separate establishments.However, even if the establishment meets§1904.46OSHA RECORDKEEPINGHANDBOOK185