SUNY WCC Environmental Health and Safety Work Related Injuries & Illnesses Recordkeeping and Reporting Program Latest Revision/Review Date: January 2, 2016 Revision/Review Date: March 18, 2015 Work Related Injuries & Illnesses Recordkeeping and Reporting Program Contents: I. Introduction II. Employer s Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Recordkeeping Requirements III. Log and Summary of work Related Injuries and Illnesses IV. Employee Injury and Illness Incident Report Form V. Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses Form VI. Worker Involvement and Access to Logs VII. Reporting of Death or Multiple Hospitalizations Appendix A: POMCO/EM Management Employee Injury & Illness Report Form I. Introduction Employers are required to keep records of injuries and illnesses, exposures to hazards, and training. Public sector workers, including WCC employees, are protected by the New York State Public Employees Safety and Health Bureau (PESH), which enforces federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations for public employees in New York State. II. Employer s Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Recordkeeping Requirements PESH's Recording and Reporting Public Employees' Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Standard (12 NYCRR Part 801) explains how occupational illnesses and injuries must be recorded and reported. This is equivalent to OSHA's 29 CFR 1904, which was extensively revised in 2002. The revisions increased worker and union access to information and defined more clearly what should and should not be recorded. The OSHA revisions point out that discrimination against workers who exercise their OSHA 1
rights is forbidden by the OSH Act. Although part 801 does not explicitly state this, discrimination is also forbidden in the public sector. Detailed instructions on how to fulfill the work related injuries and illnesses recordkeeping requirements can be found in the New York State Department of Labor Division of Safety and Health guidance document; SH 801 - Instructions for Recording and Reporting Public Employees Occupational Injuries and Illness The occupational injuries and illnesses recordkeeping requirements are fulfilled by the Human Resources Department here at Westchester Community College. III. Log and Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses WCC Human Resources must keep a Log of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses for each place of work (called an establishment) that is expected to be in operation for more than one year. Each recordable injury or illness must be recorded in this log within 6 working days of the incident. If work takes place at several locations with common supervision, the log may be kept at a central location as long as the dispersed locations are closely located and maintain central administrative records such as payroll. Otherwise each facility must maintain a log. Employers must record all new cases of work related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses if they involve: Death Days away from work; Restricted work 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, even if it does not meet the other recording criteria; A needle stick or cut that exposed a worker to potentially infectious material such as blood; TB conversion or diagnosis following workplace exposure; Work-related hearing loss of 10 decibels since the last hearing test or baseline AND an overall reduction of 25 decibels; and Medical removal required by other standards A case is considered new if the worker either did not have the same type of injury or illness in the same body part, or all signs and symptoms from a previous injury or illness had disappeared. Items included in the Log of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses: 2
the worker name and job title, the date the injury occurred or the illness began, where the event took place, a description of the injury or illness including body part affected, what caused the problem, The number of lost days or restricted work days, up to 180 days. The count is based on calendar days, not scheduled work days, so it includes weekends and holidays. The record must include all employees on payroll, including management, and those supervised by the employer on a day-to-day basis such as contract, agency, or temporary workers. Privacy concern cases: Human Resources must not include the worker s name on the log and summary form when recording cases of: HIV, hepatitis or TB exposure, Injuries or illnesses related to the reproductive system or intimate body part, sexual assault or Mental illness. A worker who has any recordable illness may request that his/her case is treated as a privacy concern case. A separate Privacy Case List of names and record numbers must be kept and provided to the government if requested. All other relevant information must be recorded on the Log of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses form. Other Log of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses Requirements An officer or high ranking official of the College must certify that he or she has examined the Log of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses and that he or she reasonably believes, based on his or her knowledge of the process by which the information was recorded, that the annual Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses form is correct and complete. Human Resources must post a copy of the Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses form in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted. The College must ensure that the posted annual summary is not altered, defaced or covered by other material. The Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses form must be posted no later than February 1 of the year following the year covered by the records and the posting must be kept in place until April 30. 3
The Log of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses forms must be kept for five years. Copies must be provided within 4 business hours of a request by representatives of the Commissioner of Labor IV. Employee Injury and Illness Incident Report Form All work-related injuries or illnesses that are reported are captured on POMCO/EM Management s (the college s Worker s Comp insurance carrier) Employee Injury and Illness Report (see Appendix A). This form generally is completed by the employee or supervisor and should be submitted to Human Resources within three (3) business days of the Injury/Illness. This report form includes detailed descriptions of how the incident occurred, what happened to the worker and what medical treatment was provided In addition Campus Security, in conjunction with the employee or supervision, fills out a WCC Security Department Incident Report for each employee injury occurrence that they respond to. This report form includes detailed descriptions of how the incident occurred, what happened to the worker and what medical treatment was provided. A copy of these completed Incident Report Forms are then routed to Human Resources. If the incident has not already been captured on the POMCO/EM Management Employee Injury and Illness Report form, HR assures that it does. V. Annual Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses Form At the end of each calendar year, Human Resources must fill out the Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses Form. A copy of the past year s summary must be posted in each establishment from February 1 through April 30 in a conspicuous place or where employee notices are posted. The injury summary, using the average number of employees and total hours employees worked for the previous year, includes calculated rates of injury, illness and lost time. These rates may be compared to rates from similar facilities and to national data. VI. Worker involvement and access to logs Employers must make sure that employees and their representatives are involved in the recordkeeping system (Section 801.35). The employer must tell all employees how to report injuries or illnesses. Workers, former workers and their personal or union representative must be provided with copies of the Log of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses within 1 business day of a request. This includes all names except for the Privacy Concern Cases, and all job titles, dates and other descriptive information for all cases. 4
Individuals or their personal representatives can request complete copies of the POMCO/EM Management Employee Injury & Illness Report form on their own cases. The employer must provide all information about the incident, but not personal information about the worker or the treatment, within 7 business days. The employer is only required to give the authorized employee representative information from the POMCO/EM Management Employee Injury & Illness Report form from the Information About the Case section only. The employer must remove all other information from the copy of the Employee Injury & Illness Report form that the employer gives to the authorized employee representative. VIII. Reporting of Death or Multiple Hospitalizations The employer must report all work-related incidents resulting in one or more deaths or the hospitalization of two or more employees to the nearest NYS Division of Safety and Health (DOSH) office within 8 hours by telephone or in person. The report must describe the circumstances of the accident, number of deaths, and extent of any injuries. PESH may require any additional reports it considers necessary. 5
Appendix A 6
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