In the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Black Knight (played by John Cleese) sustains an injury while guarding a bridge—literally just a piece of wood—and proclaims, “’Tis but a scratch!” The scratch, in fact, turns out to be a complete amputation of his left arm, but that doesn’t stop him from guarding his bridge against King Arthur.
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In real life, if your employee sustains a scratch, you don’t necessarily have to file a claim with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). However, should your employee lose a limb or consciousness, that’s a whole different story! A recent incident clarified whether fainting at the sight of blood constitutes as a work-related injury.
A West Virginia man had scratched his finger on a vinyl saw clamp at work. In pursuit of first aid, he encountered a coworker who happened to have a Band-Aid® in his pocket. The coworker was in the midst of applying the Band-Aid when the injured employee caught sight of his own blood and fainted. He sustained no further injuries but claimed he could not tolerate the sight of blood, not even his own.
The employer, not entirely sure of what to do, reached out to OSHA to see if filing a claim was needed. OSHA responded in a letter of interpretation, claiming that Section 1904.7(b)(1)(v)—of 29 CFR Part 1904 of OSHA recordkeeping requirements—“provides that a work-related injury or illness must be recorded if it results in loss of consciousness.”
The letter goes on to state “that employers must record every work-related injury or illness if a worker becomes unconscious, regardless of the length of time the employee remains unconscious. The fact that a Band-Aid, which is included on the list of first aid treatments in section 1904.7(b)(5)(i), was first applied to treat the employee is not relevant in this case. Section 1904.4(a) makes clear that employers must record injuries and illnesses that are work-related, a new case, and meets one or more [of] the recording criteria … In the scenario above, when the employee fainted, the case met the general recording criteria in section 1904.7(b)(1)(v) and therefore must be recorded.”
This case is a good reminder that some injuries may not appear to be work-related, but they could still require you to report them to OSHA!