OSHA Updates FAQs on Reporting Coronavirus Cases

The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published additional frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) on the need for employers to report employees’ in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities resulting from work-related cases of the coronavirus.

The new FAQs provide information to help employers apply existing injury and illness recording and reporting requirements to the coronavirus.

In particular, the FAQs offer guidance on how to calculate reporting deadlines for in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities. In addition, OSHA clarifies the meaning of the term “incident” as it relates to work-related coronavirus in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities.

OSHA said the FAQs also provide employers and employees with more information about how it will enforce its standards and regulations during the pandemic. Previously, OSHA published revised enforcement guidance detailing how it will enforce the recordkeeping requirements of Regulation 29 CFR 1904, which governs employers' reporting requirements for employee coronavirus illnesses.

Visit OSHA’s COVID-19 webpage for further information and resources about the coronavirus.