Lost workday counts after an injured employee is terminated

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

September 2, 1992

Mr. C.T. Sullinger, CSP
Manager of OSHA Records
Brown & Root, Inc.
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Sullinger:

Thank you for your letter dated July 21 requesting a clarification on documentation required for the stop of lost workday counts on the OSHA Log involving the termination of an injured or ill employee.

As stated in your letter, termination of employment may stop the count of lost workdays only if unrelated to the employee's injury or illness. However, your question is more of a compliance issue than a recordkeeping issue. From a compliance viewpoint, my opinion is that your draft form outlining the circumstances behind the termination of an injured or ill employee should be sufficient documentation for a Compliance Officer inspecting your OSHA recordkeeping forms.

In reference to scenario B of your form, if an employee is terminated due to his/her injury or illness, an estimate should be made of the total number of workdays that would have been lost had the employee not been terminated.

It may also prove beneficial to somehow indicate or reference your form on the Log cases to which they apply. In this way the Compliance Officer will be aware that the case involves a lost workday count that has been shortened by an unrelated termination of employment. In this way he or she will have a clear picture of the situation.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any further questions, please contact my staff at Area Code (202) 523-1463.

Sincerely,
Stephen A Newell
Acting Director
Office of Statistics