On April 20, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration released three new FAQs for employers who recommend or require employees receive COVID-19 vaccines, according to www.mwe.com.
The new OSHA guidance highlights additional considerations when requiring employee vaccinations.
If an employer requires employees to be vaccinated, OSHA considers adverse reactions to the vaccines as “work-related.” Employers who require COVID-19 vaccines must notify OSHA within 24 hours of an employee’s inpatient hospitalization (or within eight hours of an employee’s death) resulting from an adverse reaction.
For employers subject to OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements, if the adverse reaction meets other general recording criteria—such as days away from work—the reaction must be recorded on the employer’s OSHA 300 log, even if it does not lead to hospitalization. For example, if an employee uses a sick day because of a fever and chills following administration of the vaccine, the reaction must be recorded. However, if an employee only requires over-the-counter medication to ease soreness at the injection site, the action does not need to be recorded.
Employers who recommend rather than require vaccination do not need to record adverse reactions or report hospitalizations resulting from those adverse reactions, even if the employer facilitates employees’ access to the vaccine.
