WKU OSHA Injury and Illness Reporting Procedures

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) revised rule for recording and reporting work related injuries and illnesses became effective January 1, 2002. Kentucky OSHA, the occupational safety and health regulatory authority in Kentucky, has adopted the revised rule. The revised rule, 29 CFR 1904, is intended to improve employee involvement, calls for greater employee privacy protection, creates simpler forms, and allows greater flexibility to use computers to meet OSHA's regulatory recordkeeping requirements. These guidelines are intended to inform all WKU faculty, staff, and student workers of the procedures to report injuries and illnesses.

All work related injuries or illnesses, whether occurring on campus or elsewhere when performing Western Kentucky University work, are to be immediately reported to the employee's supervisor. Supervisors will ensure that proper medical treatment is afforded the injured employee. The employee shall contact WKU Human Resources as soon as practical after the work related injury or illness event to complete the Workers Compensation Form I-A1 in order to initiate appropriate workers compensation benefits. All needle stick, contaminated sharps injuries, and/or exposures to blood borne pathogens or other potentially infectious material shall also be reported to the Human Resources Department.

In addition to the injury and illness reporting procedures described above that are utilized for Workers’ Compensation, the work related conditions as listed below are OSHA recordable. Human Resources is responsible for ensuring proper completion of the OSHA 300 and 301 Logs. Supporting diagnosis and treatment information and documentation may be necessary to ensure accurate log recordability and classification.

General Recording Criteria

Recordable work related injuries and illnesses are those that result in one or more of the following:

• Death,
• Days away from work,
• Restricted work,
• Transfer to another job,
• Medical treatment beyond first aid,
• Loss of consciousness, or
• Diagnosis of a significant injury or illness.

We must also record all work related needle stick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material. To protect the employee's privacy, we may not enter the employee's name on the OSHA 300 Log if it is determined to be a "privacy concern case".

Privacy concern cases include:

• An injury or illness to an intimate body part or reproductive system;
• An injury or illness resulting from a sexual assault;
• Mental illness;
• HIV infection, hepatitis, tuberculosis;
• Needle stick and sharps injuries that are contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material;
• Employee's request to keep name off Log for other illness cases.

Contact Human Resources, Brandon Higgins, at extension 58841, for additional information concerning these reporting procedures. You may also view the entire revised rule at:

http://www.osha-slc.gov/recordkeeping/index.html

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