Washington — A recent OSHA letter of interpretation explores whether a burn injury, caused by a set of personal lithium-ion batteries, is considered “work-related.”
The Jan. 20 letter outlines a scenario in which an employee brought rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for e-cigarettes into the workplace. The batteries allegedly came into contact with a key used for work, sparking a fire that burned the employee.
Lee Anne Jillings, director of OSHA’s Technical Support and Emergency Management Directorate, answers five employer questions stemming from the incident.
The first: Does the exception to work-relatedness in 1904.5(b)(3) apply to this scenario because it isn’t obvious whether the precipitating event occurred in the work environment or occurred away from work?
Jillings writes: “No, Section 1904.5(b)(3) of OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation does not apply in this scenario, assuming that the employee was at your workplace during assigned work hours and present as a condition of employment.”
Other exceptions that don’t apply to the scenario, Jillings writes, are under 1904.5(b)(2)(iv) – related to eating, drinking, or preparing food or drink – and for personal grooming in 1904.5(b)(2)(vi).
“None of the exceptions to work-relatedness in Section 1904.5(b)(2) apply to the scenario you describe,” Jillings writes.
