Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules require employers to report qualifying employee deaths or hospitalizations to OSHA, and to record such incidents on their OSHA 300 logs. Recently, we had a client with an employee who apparently suffered a non-work-related cardiac event at work and fell from a slightly elevated platform. The employee died at the accident scene, but the employer could not readily determine whether the death was a result of the heart attack, the fall, or a combination of the two. Should the employer have reported this incident to OSHA and included it on their 300 log?

OSHA rules do not require reporting or recording of injuries or deaths that are not related to a work-related injury or illness. Even when an employee has a personal medical event, the impact of the work environment on the condition may be unclear. For example, could heat in the workplace or the presence of an air contaminant have triggered or exacerbated the employee’s medical condition? Using my example, could the employee have survived the cardiac event had they not been working at heights at the time it occurred?

In many circumstances, employees err on the side of caution and report borderline events even when they suspect that the medical issues were unrelated to work. OSHA is unlikely to cite companies over employee deaths or injuries that were precipitated by a personal medical event. However, some companies' workers' compensation insurance rates, internal safety incentives, or contractual or bidding criteria are tied to their OSHA 300 reportable incidents. In those situations, if the employer decides not to report or list the incident, this conclusion should only be reached after a careful and documented review of the matter, and the final decision not to record the injury should be based on an established regulatory exception.

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