Injuries from workplace violence incidents that occur outside of the actual workplace are still recordable, according to an OSHA Standard Interpretation Letter.
The letter states that an incident of workplace violence is recordable even if it occurs away from the worksite as long as the employee involved is performing a work-related task “in the interest of the employer.”
OSHA issued the letter in response to a question from a law firm representing an employer whose employee was involved in a workplace violence incident while away from the worksite.
Employee shot while in company car during work hours
The employee was a driver who was driving a company vehicle while on the clock and traveling on a public roadway. This driver was between service calls near an intersection when a four-car collision occurred as the result of another car coming from the wrong direction in the same lane.
After the crash occurred, the wrong-way motorist got out of his car, shot the driver, stole the driver’s truck, and fled the scene.
There was no evidence that the driver said or did anything to provoke the attack. Later that day, the employer learned that the wrong-way motorist had been in the middle of a serial crime spree at the time of the crash.
Worker ‘traveling in interest of employer’ when incident occurred
On behalf of the client's employer, the law firm wanted to know if this injury resulting from the violence, which occurred while the employee was on the job, was something that had to be reported.
OSHA answered in the affirmative:
“Based on the information in the above scenario, at the time of the collision and shooting, your client’s driver was traveling in the interest of the employer … was driving a company vehicle and was traveling between service calls when the accident and shooting occurred.”
Further, “traveling to and from customer contacts is an activity ‘in the interest of the employer,’ and therefore your client’s driver was in the work environment at the time of the injury.”
Only applies when on the clock and engaged in work-related task
This is significant, according to law firm Seyfarth Shaw, because the letter states that “OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation does not allow employers to exclude injuries and illnesses resulting from random acts of violence occurring in the work environment from their recordkeeping forms.”
Seyfarth Shaw said, “OSHA reached this conclusion even though the incident had occurred not at the worksite, but on a public highway, an area that historically has fallen within the Department of Transportation’s jurisdiction.”
That means that even random acts of violence performed by “individuals with no connection to the worksite or employer – e.g., robbers, active shooters, etc. – will be considered work-related, and any injuries sustained as a result of these random acts must be recorded on an employer’s OSHA 300 log.”
However, remember that this only applies when the incident involves an employee who is engaged in a work-related task during work hours.
Source: https://rb.gy/a3r1d
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