CONN-OSHA Answers Your Safety Questions: December 2023

Welcome to our monthly column featuring CONN-OSHA experts answering some of the most commonly asked safety questions from CBIA member companies.

Most of the responses from Catherine Zinsser, a CONN-OSHA occupational safety training specialist, will be on recordkeeping since that is the focus of most questions she fields.

But if you’d like to ask her a question on another topic, please email CBIA’s Phillip Montgomery.

He will treat all questions confidentially and never share any identifying company information with CONN-OSHA or anyone else.

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Q: On Dec. 30, 2023, an employee says that their hand hurts. On Jan. 3, they go to a doctor and are now preparing for surgery. On which year’s log is the case recorded, 2023 or 2024?

A: Record the case on the 2023 log. Ordinarily, the case should be recorded on the log for the year in which the injury or illness occurred.

When the date of injury or illness cannot be determined, the date the employee reported the symptoms or received treatment must be used.

Q: An employee who was injured in 2022 had days away from work and restricted work that ran over into 2023. Do I record their days away from work in 2022 on the 2023 log or do I go back and record it on the 2022 log when the accident actually occurred?

A: You must enter the number of calendar days away for the injury or illness on the OSHA 300 log for the year in which the injury occurred.

If the employee is still away from work because of the injury when you prepare the annual summary, estimate the total number of calendar days you expect the employee to be away from work, use this number to calculate the total for the annual summary, and then update the initial log entry later when the day count is known or reaches the 180-day cap.

Q: I have an employee who was injured and off work for several days, and has been on restricted duty for a few months. When recording the number of days for each, do I count Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays?

A: Yes. You must count the number of calendar days the employee was unable to work as a result of the injury or illness, regardless of whether or not the employee was scheduled to work on those day(s).

Weekend days, holidays, vacation days, or other days off are included in the total number of days recorded.

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For more information, contact CBIA’s Phillip Montgomery (860.244.1982).