Work relationship during travel and voluntary activities

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

June 21, 1993

Mr. Michael Hall
Program Manager
Safety/Emergency Response
IBM
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Hall:

Thank you for your facsimile dated June 1, requesting an interpretation for several OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping issues. Whenever possible, I will reference the Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by citing the appropriate page and Q&A numbers.

Injuries and illnesses that result from an event or exposure off the employer's premises are work related if the worker was engaged in work related activities or was present as a condition of his or her employment (page 35, Section 2). These criteria must be applied to scenarios one and three outlined in your facsimile. If the employee was injured while performing duties in the interest of the company, the injury would be considered work related. If the employee was injured while performing normal living conditions, (e.g. eating), the injury would not be considered work related.

Because of the voluntary nature of the work outlined in scenario two, any injury or illness occurring to that employee should not be considered work related.

Employees off premises in nontravel status work within their normally scheduled hours and normal geographic area of operation. An interpretation of "normal geographic area" includes the town or city where the employee normally works and directly adjoining municipalities. Employees in travel status must either be: (1) outside their normal area of operation, or (2) working off premises for more than a normal workday (such as staying overnight) (page 37, Q&A C-22).

Injuries incurred during normal commutes to and from work are not considered recordable (page 36, C-19). However, for employees who are "on call", travel to and from work is not considered the normal commute and any injury occurring during such travel would be considered work related. This applies to employees responding and traveling to emergency situations.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any further questions, please contact my staff at Area Code (202) 219-6463.

Sincerely,
Stephen A. Newell
Director
Office of Statistics