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The Wayne Farms case is extreme, and probably a deliberate misread of OSHA’s injury and illness recordkeeping standards (when a worker dies, it’s definitely recordable and reportable), but there are many cases in which employers have difficulty determining whether a worker received “first aid,” as defined by the standard, or recordable “medical treatment.”
Here are some situations you might encounter. Are they first aid or medical treatment?
Prophylactic Antibiotics: First Aid or Medical Treatment?
An employer wrote to OSHA asking about this scenario: An employee was bitten by a deer tick in the work environment. The employee missed no work time, showed no signs of illness, and did not contract Lyme disease or any other illness as a result of the bite. However, out of an abundance of caution, because of the area of the United States in which the employee was bitten, the doctor prescribed antibiotics as a preventive measure.
Was it first aid or medical treatment?
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Answer: medical treatment. OSHA has answered this question multiple times, actually, beginning in the preamble to the recordkeeping standard, where the Agency stated that the use of prescription medications is not first aid because prescription medications are powerful substances that can be prescribed only by a licensed healthcare professional. The preventive, precautionary, or prophylactic nature of a medication is not controlling for determining OSHA recordability. The issuance of prescription antibiotics is considered medical treatment beyond first aid for OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping purposes.
Just to keep you on your toes, though, the preamble also specifies that the administration of prescription medications used solely for diagnostic purposes (like eye drops) does qualify as first aid, while a recommendation from a physician to use a non-prescription medication at a prescription dose (for example, ibuprofen) is medical treatment.
Exercise Regimen: First Aid or Medical Treatment?
An employer wrote to OSHA asking whether an exercise regimen recommended and directed by a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) should be classified as “first aid” or “medical treatment” for OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping purposes.
What do you think? Is it first aid or medical treatment?
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Answer: Medical treatment. Therapeutic exercise is addressed in OSHA’s preamble to the final injury and illness recordkeeping rule. OSHA stated that it considers therapeutic exercise a form of physical therapy, and deliberately left it out of the list of first-aid treatments in Section 1904.7(b)(5)(ii). Physical therapy is considered medical treatment.
Just to keep you on your toes, if a worker is given recommendations for an exercise regimen absent any symptoms of a work-related injury—for example, if the recommendation is given as part of a wellness program—there is no recordable injury involved, and the exercise regimen does not fall under the recordkeeping standard’s requirements.
Tune in tomorrow for Round 2 of “First aid or medical treatment?”
Interestingly enough with the deer tick case is the reason that injury is recordable is that the individual did experience an injury; it was a tick bite (just like a dog bite but smaller scale) and the antibiotics were the medical treatment to that injury experiences. In a case that is exposure only, (with NO sign of injury or illness), such as an exposure to airborne Anthrax, preventative treatment with antibiotics (prior to exhibiting illness symptoms)will not be recordable because no injury or illness has occurred.
Jenkins
May 5, 2015 6:09 am
Reply
With regards to the statement below, there may have not been an injury but there was a work related incident by exposure to Anthrax thus work related and treatment rendered and it was most likely not referred to as a wellness plan nor diagnostics so even if it is preventative I think it would be medical treatment?
Interestingly enough with the deer tick case is the reason that injury is recordable is that the individual did experience an injury; it was a tick bite (just like a dog bite but smaller scale) and the antibiotics were the medical treatment to that injury experiences. In a case that is exposure only, (with NO sign of injury or illness), such as an exposure to airborne Anthrax, preventative treatment with antibiotics (prior to exhibiting illness symptoms)will not be recordable because no injury or illness has occurred
Go to 11910.4(b)(2) There is a decision tree for whether an injury is recordable. The first step is 1. Did the employee experience an injury or illness? If that answer is NO, the tree moves you to do not record. The standard says nothing of needing to determine if an employee experiences a work related incident by exposure. In fact, I think in one part of the Federal register they discuss someone exposed to Chlorine gas that was told by their doctor to stay home for a day of work as a precaution. Since no signs or symptoms did result, it was not recordable as their was NO injury or illness. The deer tick issue gets pulled in as a bite is an injury.