b'Garys CornerContinued from page 15a calendar year. compliance you require in your contract with your sub. In Do I need to report a case of COVID-19 to OSHA? most cases I suspect that you will have procedures that maintain an arms-length relationship with your subs. So, This section applies to employers of any size.be sure any employee you have in charge of overseeing Only serious illnesses and injuries must be reported tothe work of your subs strictly and consistently follows OSHAi.e. injuries and illnesses resulting in death, in- those procedures. I have recently become aware of a patient hospitalization, amputation and/or loss of an eye.situation in which a company was cited for a fall protection Although work-related COVID-19 infections may resultviolation where OSHA has taken the position that the in hospitalization or even death, they are only reportablecontractor had a duty to ensure (guarantee) the safety of to OSHA under certain circumstances. A hospitalizationthe employees of the subs employees. The compliance must only be reported if the employee is admitted toofficer intercepted the principles employee as he was on the in-patient unit of the hospital for treatment within 24his way to advise the site supervisor for the sub of the hours of the work-related incident (i.e. exposure).It willsafety infraction, but before he could do so, OSHA has likely to be difficult to determine when an employeestaken the position that the contractors site supervisor work-related exposure occurred, and thus, difficult toshould have dealt directly with the individual employees determine whether the hospitalization occurred within 24of the sub. hours for purposes of reporting.If an employee dies fromMulti-State Operationsa work-related case of COVID-19, the death is reportableIf you are a contractor who works in multiple states if it occurs within 30 days of the work-related exposure. or a company covered by the general industry standards General OSHA Issues and Updates and has facilities in more than one state you must be in compliance with the OSHA standards for the states Confidentiality of Injury and Illness Records in which you may work if they are state plan states. For On June 4th, 2020 Magistrate Donna M. Ryu ruledexample, in Utah, a company with an employee who against the Department of Labor in the case of Thehas a serious injury must report to Utah OSHA within Center of Investigative Reporting v. DOL and held thateight hours even if the employee was not hospitalized. employer injury and illness records filed with OSHA areThe State of Washington, I believe, is unique in that not confidential and can be obtained by the media and/orthey not only require you to determine the integrity of just about anyone else under a Freedom of Informationwalking a working surface, (Federal OSHA standard at Act request. The decision seems to be based in some1926.501(a)(2)) they require you to guarantee that the part on the 2016 rule proposed by OSHA (Dr. Michaels)walking/working surface will support the weight of the that was not adopted and that would have posted all suchemployee and his/her equipment who will work on it. records filed with OSHA on the OSHA website. This wasGetting back to the pandemic, Nevada has promulgated referred to in 2016 as the shaming rule for obviousan emergency temporary standard limiting the number reasons. The rule did not reach the final rule stage, butof employees in an aerial lift, scissors lift or JLG basket now Magistrate Ryu has brought back at least some ofto one person. The point of this paragraph is to remind what Dr. Michaels was trying to accomplish at that time. you that you are not just bound to the safety regulations in the state in which you are headquartered or in which In addition to the above, The D.C. Circuit Court ofyou have your principle facility, but also to those to which Appeals dismissed the attempt by the AFL-CIO to forceyou send employees or open new facilities.OSHA to promulgate an emergency temporary standardBack to COVID-19on the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision was by a three-judge panel of the Court. The AFL-CIO has filedIn the absence of a temporary emergency OSHA for an en banc hearing to have the entire bench of thestandard relating to COVID-19, OSHA continues to issue D.C. Circuit hear the case.guidance and enforce safety and health practices under Working with Subcontractorsthe general duty clause. OSHA issued more guidance for construction contractors in June, advising employers Be careful with how you treat the employees ofto perform a job hazard analysis at the beginning of each subcontractors regarding safety compliance. Be sure youwork day to determine whether the work for the upcoming address this issue in your contract with your subs.Beday will place them in the lower, medium or high risk sure you have a clear procedure for ensuring the safetycategory, and then act appropriately with engineering 16 www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer Continued on page 19'