OSHA Recordkeeping Handbook - Msabc.net

then result in days away from work in the next year.For example, a worker may be injured on December20th and be away from work until January 10th. Thefinal rule directs the employer only to record thistype of case once, in the year that it occurred. If theemployee is still away from work when the annualsummary is prepared (before February 1), theemployer must either count the number of days theemployee was away or estimate the total days awaythat are expected to occur, use this estimate to calculatethe total days away during the year for the annualsummary, and then update the Log entry laterwhen the actual number of days is known or the casereaches the 180-day cap allowed in Section1904.7(b)(3)(v).......OSHA has decided to require employers tocount calendar days, both for the totals for daysaway from work and the count of restricted workdays….Changing to a calendar day counting system willalso make it easier to count days away or restrictedfor part-time workers, because the difficulties ofcounting scheduled time off for part-time workerswill be eliminated. This will, in turn, mean that thedata for part-time workers will be comparable to thatfor full-time workers, i.e., days away will be comparablefor both kinds of workers, because scheduledtime will not bias the counting method. Calendar daycounts will also be a better measure of severity,because they will be based on the length of disabilityinstead of being dependent on the individualemployee’s work schedule. This policy will thus createmore complete and consistent data and help torealize one of the major goals of this rulemaking: toimprove the quality of the injury and illness data.OSHA recognizes that moving to calendar daycounts will have two effects on the data. First, it willbe difficult to compare injury and illness data gatheredunder the former rule with data collected underthe new rule. This is true for day counts as well asthe overall number and rate of occupational injuriesand illnesses. Second, it will be more difficult foremployers to estimate the economic impacts of losttime. Calendar day counts will have to be adjusted toaccommodate for days away from work that theemployee would not have worked even if he or shewas not injured or ill. This does not mean that calendarday counts are not appropriate in these situations,but it does mean that their use is more complicatedin such cases. Those employers who wish tocontinue to collect additional data, including scheduledworkdays lost, may continue to do so. However,employers must count and record calendar days forthe OSHA injury and illness Log.Thus, on balance, OSHA believes that any problemsintroduced by moving to a calendar-day systemwill be more than offset by the improvements in thedata from one case to the next and from oneemployer to another, and by the resulting improvementsin year-to-year analysis made possible by thischange in the future, i.e., by the improved consistencyand quality of the data.The more difficult problem raised by the shift tocalendar days occurs in the case of the injury or illnessthat results on the day just before a weekend orsome other prescheduled time off. Where the workercontinues to be off work for the entire time becauseof the injury or illness, these days are clearly appropriatelyincluded in the day count. As previously discussed,if a physician or other licensed health careprofessional issues a medical release at some pointwhen the employee is off work, the employer maystop counting days at that point in the prescheduledabsence. Similarly, if the HCP tells the injured or illworker not to work over the scheduled time off, theinjury was severe enough to require days away andthese must all be counted. In the event that the workerwas injured or became ill on the last day beforethe weekend or other scheduled time off and returnson the scheduled return date, the employer mustmake a reasonable effort to determine whether ornot the employee would have been able to work onany or all of those days, and must count the daysand enter them on the Log based on that determination.In this situation, the employer need not countdays on which the employee would have been ableto work, but did not, because the facility was closed,or the employee was not scheduled to work, or forother reasons unrelated to the injury or illness….Capping the Count of Lost Workdays…After a review of the evidence submitted to therecord, OSHA has decided to include in the final rulea provision that allows the employer to stop countingdays away from work or restricted workdays whenthe case has reached 180 days….Selection of the Day Count Cap…After careful consideration, OSHA has decided tocap the day counts at 180 days and to express thecount as days rather than months….OSHA has decided to cap the counts at 180 daysto eliminate any effect such capping might have onthe median days away from work data reported byBLS….§1904.7OSHA RECORDKEEPINGHANDBOOK55