An employee was injured while operating a forklift. He was taken to the hospital and was there a few days for his injuries. His post accident drug test came back positive. Considering he was under the influence of drugs, is this an OSHA recordable?

 

Tough call. Take a look at 1904.5. Paragraph (a) would seem to indicate it is recordable. However paragraph (b)(2)(ii) [see the table] could be construed to provide you an out with respect to work relatedness. My question would be "Was he still under the influence of the drug at the time of the accident?". If yes, then it can be argued it is not recordable. If no, then I would say it is recordable. Just my opinion.

MikeCJ

I've always understood if any care beyond first aid was given, its a recordable.

*If you send me an email I will send you a recordable? tool that my insurance guy sent me a while back...

It is not quiet a automatic as anything beyond first aid. There are other factors to consider whether it is work related. If it is due to a non-work related illness that manifests at work, it is not work related. However, OSHA has been pretty consistent in considering substance abuse in the work place something that the employer is supposed to control.

This is from OSHA's recordkeeping manual:

Question 7-9 If an employee who sustains a work-related injury requiring days away from work is terminated for drug use based on the results of a post-accident drug test, how is the case recorded? May the employer stop the day count upon termination of the employee for drug use under section 1904.7(b)(3) (vii)?

Under section 1904.7(b)(3)(vii), the employer may stop counting days away from work if an employee who is away from work because of an injury or illness leaves the company for some reason unrelated to the injury or illness, such as retirement or a plant closing. However, when the employer conducts a drug test based on the occurrence of an accident resulting in an injury at work and subsequently terminates the injured employee, the termination is related to the injury. Therefore, the employer must estimate the number of days that the employee would have been away from work due to the injury and enter that number on the 300 Log.

It does not specifically address the work related question, but obviously assumes that it is.

His drug test was off the charts. In addition, they caught a family member trying to sneak him a urine sample to be used in place of his.

All valid information for making a termination decision, but irrelevant to the recordability decision.

I hate these type too, but try to chalk them up in the lessons learned category. We recently beefed up our substance abuse program to try to prevent similar incidents.

There is some room in the "first aid" discription. For instance, Had a guy get a foriegn object in his eye, Did the onsite flush but it swelled shut and so we were concerend that even though we got a piece out, we were not sure if we got it all out, so I took him to the local clinic, which gave us a referral to the local opthalmologist who was able to confirm that the initial eye wash did get it all out. The doctor perscribed a perscription eye drop to lube the eye and reduce the irritation.  Return visit to eye doctor to verify all was ok a couple of days later. I usually just call OSHA with an anounomous question and they make the call on recordable or not. This eye incident was NOT recordable because although we did go to a doctor, which one would figure would be beyond first aid, OSHA says no treatment was done.  That all the stuff done by the doc was only diagnostic in nature and was not treatment. No days were lost and there was light duty for the rest of the day.

Yes - the incident is OSHA recordable. 

Akula:

The doctor perscribed a perscription eye drop to lube the eye and reduce the irritation.

He had a prescription written for him... this becomes an OSHA recordable.

-Justin

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Eat. Skate. Sleep. Repeat.

What if the prescription was written, but never filled? Not asking to be a smartass, just curious as to what the recordability would be in that situation...

Still recordable.--well established in preamble to the regulations and interpretive letters.

Correct.  Like I said... the prescription was written, therefore it is a recordable.  The technicalities of the law really suck sometimes.

-Justin

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Eat. Skate. Sleep. Repeat.

I think this situation demostrates why a strong relationship with an occupational clinic is a must. They understand that once a prescription is written, it is a recordable. For the eye drops that were prescribed in this situation, appears to me that "lubrication and irritation relief" could have been acheieved with an OTC type of eye drop.