OSHA issues additional COVID-19 FAQs

The new FAQs help employers apply the agency’s existing injury and illness recording and reporting requirements to the coronavirus.

OSHA  has published additional frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) regarding the need to report employees’ in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities resulting from work-related cases of the coronavirus.

OSHA’s new FAQs provide information to help employers apply the agency’s existing injury and illness recording and reporting requirements to the coronavirus. In particular, the FAQs provide guidance on how to calculate reporting deadlines for in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities and clarify the meaning of the term “incident” as it relates to work-related coronavirus in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities.

These FAQs are the latest effort by OSHA to provide employers and employees with more information about how it will enforce its standards and regulations during the pandemic. The topics covered in these FAQs are:

• Reporting
• Retaliation
• Returning to Work
• Testing for COVID-19
• Training
• Worker Protection Concerns

OSHA has also previously published revised enforcement guidance detailing how OSHA will enforce the recordkeeping requirements of 29 CFR 1904 for employee coronavirus illnesses for all employers.

Visit OSHA’s COVID-19 webpage for further information and resources about the coronavirus.