Injury logs for business travel and call-back trips

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

THE ISSUES RELATED TO OSHA AND WORK AT HOME ARE PRESENTLY UNDER REVIEW. SEE ASSISTANT SECRETARY JEFFRESS' JANUARY 28, 2000 TESTIMONY REGARDING OSHA COVERAGE OF WORKING AT HOME.

April 18, 1996

Linda Ballas
Linda Ballas & Associates
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Ms. Ballas:

Thank you for your letter dated February 19, requesting several OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping interpretations. Whenever possible, I will refer to the Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by stating the appropriate page and Q&A numbers.

Q1. Travel status - If an employee reports to work and has to go from Building A to Building B, which is still on the same work premises and injures himself in the parking lot, is this work related? He was being sent to building B to look at a machine.

A1. Company parking facilities are generally not considered part of the employer's premises for OSHA recordkeeping purposes. This case should be evaluated using the criteria established in the section "Injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures off premises" on pages 35 through 37 of the Guidelines. Work relationship must be established, it is not presumed. The employee must be engaged in a work related activity or present as a condition of employment for a case to be work related. Because the employee had completed the commute into work and was passing through the parking lot to get to Building B, we view this as a condition of employment and regard the injury as work related (page 36, C-14).

Q2. If an employee is going on a business trip and has an accident on the way to the airport which involves more than first aid, is this recordable?

A2. Yes. When in travel status, work related activities begin when the employee leaves home, assuming the employee did not intend to report to his or her office prior to beginning the trip (page 37, C-21).

Q3. What if the above case occurred on a Saturday? The employee was traveling on a Saturday to cut down on the cost of the airplane ticket and he chose to fly out early?

A3. The timing of the trip is not a factor to be considered when evaluating these circumstances. The employee is traveling for business purposes and the injury would be recordable.

Q4. What if the above case occurred on a Saturday and the employee was told he had to fly out on Saturday to save the company money on airfares and the employee was injured at the airport with treatment beyond first aid?

A4. The timing of the trip is not a factor to be considered when evaluating these circumstances. The employee is traveling for business purposes and the injury would be recordable.

Q5. If an employee worked his 8 hour shift, goes home and gets called back out to work on the same day and has an accident involving more than first aid on the way back to work; is this recordable since this is not the employee's normal work shift?

A5. An employee's normal commute from home to office and return is not considered to be work related (page 36, Q&A C-19). Therefore, any injury or illness occurring during this trip would not be recordable. The normal commute entails only one round trip per day. Injuries and illnesses resulting from other trips to and from work (e.g., to work overtime, etc.) would be considered work related. Furthermore, 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.

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

Sincerely,
Bob Whitmore
Chief
Division of recordkeeping Requirements