Recording Criteria

The city must record work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses that are new cases and meet the applicable recording criteria under the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) recordkeeping rules and 29 C.F.R. Part 1904.

A work-related injury or illness is generally recordable if it results in:

• Death.
• One or more days away from work.
• Restricted work activity or transfer to another job.
• Medical treatment beyond first aid.
• Loss of consciousness.
• A significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health-care professional.
• A work-related needlestick injury or cut from a sharp object contaminated with another person’s blood or other potentially infectious material.
• Medical removal required under an applicable OSHA or TOSHA standard.
• Work-related hearing loss that meets the applicable recording criteria.
• Work-related tuberculosis infection following occupational exposure to a person with a known case of active tuberculosis.

The city must protect employee privacy when recording a needlestick injury, contaminated-sharps injury, or another privacy-concern case. The city should not enter the employee’s name on the OSHA/TOSHA 300 Log. Instead, the city must identify the entry as a “privacy case” and maintain a separate confidential list that links the case number to the employee’s identity.

Determining Work-Relatedness
An injury or illness is work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment caused or contributed to the condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. The work environment includes the city’s establishment and any other location where an employee works or is present as a condition of employment. It includes physical work locations, city vehicles, equipment, tools, and materials used in the course of employment.

A pre-existing injury or illness is a condition that resulted solely from a non-work-related event or exposure occurring outside the work environment. A workplace event or exposure significantly aggravates a pre-existing condition when the aggravation results in death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work, job transfer, or medical treatment, and the aggravation would not likely have occurred without the workplace event or exposure.

Exceptions to Work-Relatedness
An injury or illness that occurs in the work environment is generally presumed work-related unless an exception applies. The city generally does not record a case when:

• The employee was present in the work environment solely as a member of the general public.
• The condition involves signs or symptoms that appear at work but result solely from a non-work-related event or exposure outside the work environment.
• The condition results solely from voluntary participation in a wellness, medical, fitness, or recreational activity, such as a blood donation, physical examination, influenza vaccination, exercise class, racquetball, or baseball.
• The condition results solely from eating, drinking, or preparing food or beverages for personal consumption. An injury that occurs while preparing food for a city business meeting or another work-related activity may be work-related.
• The condition results solely from personal tasks performed outside the employee’s assigned working hours.
• The condition results solely from personal grooming, self-medication for a non-work-related condition, or an intentionally self-inflicted injury.
• The condition is caused by a motor-vehicle accident in a city parking lot or access road while the employee is commuting to or from work.
• The condition is the common cold or influenza. However, a contagious disease, such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, hepatitis A, or plague, may be recordable when acquired through workplace exposure.
• The condition is a mental illness, unless the employee voluntarily provides a written opinion from a physician or other licensed health-care professional with appropriate training and experience stating that the illness is work-related.

When it is unclear whether an injury or illness is work-related, the city must evaluate the employee’s job duties and work environment to determine whether a work-related event or exposure caused, contributed to, or significantly aggravated the condition.

Travel and Remote Work
An injury or illness that occurs while an employee is traveling is work-related when the employee is engaged in activities in the interest of the city. Examples include travel to meet with customers, vendors, or other governmental entities; performing assigned job duties; or participating in city-authorized business activities.

An injury or illness generally is not work-related when the employee has checked into a hotel, motel, or other temporary residence and established a “home away from home.” Once the employee has checked into the temporary residence, the city should evaluate the employee’s activities in the same manner as it would evaluate the activities of a non-traveling employee. Injuries occurring while commuting between a temporary residence and a fixed worksite are generally not work-related.

An injury or illness also is not work-related if it occurs during a personal detour from a reasonably direct route of travel, such as a side trip for personal reasons.

An injury or illness that occurs while an employee works from home is work-related only when the employee is performing work for pay or other compensation and the condition is directly related to the performance of that work, rather than the general home environment. For example, an employee who drops a box of city files on their foot while performing assigned work may have a work-related injury. An employee who trips over a family pet while answering a work call or is injured because of defective home wiring generally does not have a work-related injury for TOSHA recordkeeping purposes.