In a noteworthy development from the field of occupational safety and health law, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued an interpretation letter regarding a particularly unusual case. The case in focus involved an employee who suffered a gunshot injury during a motor accident while on duty. Not only was the employee shot, but the perpetrator, who also happened to be one of the motorists involved in the accident, went on to steal the company’s vehicle.
After a careful review of the circumstances, OSHA opined that the event was of a work-related nature and thus must be recorded. In issuing this view, the authorities seemed to have accounted the fact that the employee was on duty and operating a company’s vehicle at the time of the incident. Considering these elements, OSHA considered that the incident was not an isolated personal event but is directly tied to the execution of his work duties, thus making it a recordable occupational injury.
This decision should serve as a reminder to corporations and law firms alike that workforce protections not only refer to direct injuries from job-related tasks but can also extend to unforeseeable events that occur during the execution of work duties. It highlights the leniency and broad interpretation of what might be considered a work-related incident.
You can read more about this development on the original article posted by Littler on JD Supra.