Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1464021
PalletCentral • March-April 2022 39 reportable/recordable COVID-19 cases attributable to the employer because of lack of exposure. On the other hand, while data are still being analyzed, those workers outside of the health care setting, who were in public-facing positions or who had to work with co-workers or third parties in close proximity (sharing employer-provided transportation, working on production lines or in confined spaces for extended periods), appear to have contracted higher rates of work-related COVID-19 than did those employees who could work at home in isolation from others (either mandated by the employer or by choice). Now, with employees who are COVID-19 survivors experiencing serious "Long COVID" to an extent sufficient to classify the condition as covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and evidence that a prior infection does not insulate the individual from future (potentially more severe) cases, remote work/home work may be demanded as a reasonable accommodation even after the pandemic eventually abates. Remote work is not likely to go away for another reason: new employees may expect to have a remote-work option available (where feasible). is has been a factor in the "Great Resignation" that has crippled hiring efforts. For workers with computer or phone-based work, where virtual meetings may be capable of replacing in-person events, employers may have greater recruitment success if the employee does not have to be based in the same city, state or region as the worksite. So can an employer simply ignore the safety of that workplace setting because it is off-site? e answer is a hard "no." OSHA has tackled this issue before, back in the late 1990s when home computers, cell phones, and fax machines first became readily available to facilitate home work. ere was even a congressional hearing in which I testified, and members of Congress expressed concern that a strike force of OSHA inspectors might descend on workers' homes to check their computer setup for ergonomic hazards. OSHA was quick to ensure Congress that this was not the intent nor was it feasible – even today, OSHA only has sufficient inspectors to visit each covered employer once every 160 years or so, much less considering addressing millions of home offices! But that does not mean that employers can close their eyes to recognized hazards impacting worker safety and health at a remote worksite or home location – ultimately, there is a "General Duty" under Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act to provide a worksite "free from recognized hazards" that pose a serious threat to worker safety or health and for which there is a feasible mitigation method. While the image of a "remote worker" is an individual at a computer, there are industries where fairly hazardous work is performed at home, at the employer's behest: fireworks manufacturing and carpentry fabrication work being two notable examples that can result in amputations, eye loss, hospitalization or death. In those cases, OSHA would expect to be notified under its "Severe Injury Reporting Rule" (29 CFR 1904.39) – within 24 hours of an amputation, eye loss or hospitalization that occurs within 24 hours of the triggering event, and within eight hours of a fatality that occurs within 30 days of a workplace exposure (including home work and remote workplaces). Less serious injuries/illnesses resulting from home/remote work must also be included on the employer's OSHA logs (300, 301 and 300A summary). e individual's home/remote worksite does not need to have its own log, but should be rolled into the stationary worksite's log, for the worksite to which the worker is assigned for HR reasons. On November 15, 1999, OSHA issued a Letter of Interpretation (LOI) addressing home work environment obligations and enforcement. OSHA now considers this an archival document, but newer guidance has not been forthcoming. In it, OSHA wrote: "Even when the workplace is in a designated area in an employee's home, the employer retains some degree of control over the 'work at home' agreement." OSHA noted that the employer still retains responsibility for reasonably foreseeable hazards created by the at-home environment, and where the employer provides work materials or equipment for use in the employee's home, the employer must ensure that the tools, equipment or supplies pose no