OSHA recordables from your company parking lot

IT HR

Here is a good article I found on some clarification on OSHA recordables that resulted from employees being injured while entering and exiting their vehicles. I know there are some states that situations such as these would not be considered workers comp, but are still considered OSHA recordable. Something tells me that we are going to see some of these states change from not considering this workers comp to now a valid workers comp claim.

http://www.jacksonlewis.com/legalupdates/article.cfm?aid=1525

4612155

Been there and done that and it is NO fun.........We are in Kansas and last December we had an employee slip and fall on the ice on the way to her car after her shift. She broke her elbow in 2 places, required surgery and extensive physical therapy. We had a massive fight between our commercial property insurance and our work comp insurance. Ultimately it came down to the fact that the parking lot is owned and controlled by our company and that she was doing something within the "normal context of her employment." It didn't matter if she was on the clock or off the clock. She was an employee and still on company property. In the end it was filed as work comp and it took almost a year to get all of her bills paid by our insurance carrier. Ironically, a customer did the same thing the next month and it was filed under our commercial property insurance..........

cwaggie

I can relate.  Last November had two employees slip and fall n the ice in the parking lot.  One was minor.  The other resulted in rotator cuff surgery, and permanent partial disability.  The employee is now suing the insurance company because they don't believe they are at MMI.

TXHRGuy

I recall reading about car salespeople racing golf carts, getting into a crash, and being approved for WC because driving the golf carts was part of their normal work.  It would be like 2 guys playing power tool tag because using power tools is part of their normal work.

4612155

Ha ha ha! Great example......Our VP actually used a similar one yesterday in reviewing our policy on work comp - only his included paint ball guns.....