What are the OSHA record-keeping requirements for cases of COVID-19 in the workplace?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised its enforcement guidance for recording cases of COVID-19 to state that all employers, regardless of industry, should take action to determine whether employee COVID-19 illnesses are work-related and thus recordable on the OSHA 300 Log.

Under OSHA's record-keeping requirements, COVID-19 is a recordable illness and employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19 if:

1. The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
2. The case is work-related as defined by 29 CFR §1904.5.
3. The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR §1904.7.

OSHA Compliance and Safety Officers (CSHOs) were previously given discretion to consider certain criteria in determining the work-relatedness of an employee's COVID-19 illness including the reasonableness of the employer's investigation into work-relatedness and the evidence available to the employer. However, this discretion has since been rescinded and new guidance indicates, "As transmission and prevention of COVID-19 infection have become better understood, employers should have an increased ability to determine whether an employee's COVID-19 illness is likely work-related, e.g., if the employee, while on the job, has frequent, close contact with the general public in a locality with ongoing community transmission and there is no alternative explanation." As a result, employers should closely follow the requirements of standard 1904.5 when making a determination of work-relatedness.

Additionally, from May 21, 2021, through at least May 22, 2023, an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine is not a recordable injury.