Injury logs for employees without a fixed worksite

OSHA archive notice: "This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only."

November 1, 1999

Tom Bones, Director of Safety
Dycom Industries, Inc.
[Recipient address omitted]

Dear Mr. Bones:

Thank you for your letter, dated June 30, 1999, requesting interpretation/clarification concerning recordability of injuries and illnesses occurring to employees of one of your subsidiary companies who are assigned to work in cities and states in which you do not have official offices. I will respond by citing the regulations from 29 CFR Part 1904 and the Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (Blue Book), by page and Q&A number(s), whenever possible.

Scenario: A company has employees who are assigned to work in cities and states in which the parent company does not have official offices. These employees are generally on assignment for a period of months, are paid per diem allowances, and stay in hotels. Their base of operation is in Tampa, Florida, they are paid from the Tampa office and customers are billed from Tampa.

Question: Since their wages are reported in the states in which they are assigned for tax and Workers' Compensation purposes, what is the acceptable method in which to post 200 Log information for the employees? The parent company is currently keeping 200 logs in Tampa and has informed all employees that they may receive a copy via fax and/or mail upon request.

The regulations require that records be maintained at the establishment level so that both management and employees have information on their injury and illness experience. Pages 20-21 of the Recordkeeping Guidelines deals with the location of records. As stated in Section B-1-c., "Records for employees whose payroll or personnel records are maintained at a fixed location, but who do not report or work at a single establishment, should be maintained at the base from which they are paid or the base of their firm's personnel operations." Section B-2, "Employees not associated with fixed establishments" states in paragraph b that if records are kept at an established central location,

1. the address and telephone number of the place where the records are kept must be available at the worksite; and
2. there must be someone available at the central location during normal business hours to provide information from the records."

Your description that you are currently keeping 200 logs in Tampa and have informed all employees that they may receive a copy via fax and/or mail upon request is in compliance with these requirements.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any further questions or comments, please contact the Division of Recordkeeping Requirements, at (202) 693-1702.

Sincerely,

Cheryle A. Greenaugh
Director, Directorate of Information Technology