A recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration letter of interpretation considers whether a burn injury caused by a set of personal lithium-ion batteries is considered “work-related,” according to Safety+Health magazine.
The letter describes a situation involving an employee who brought rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for e-cigarettes into the workplace. The batteries allegedly touched a key used for work and started a fire that burned the employee.
Lee Anne Jillings, director of OSHA’s Technical Support and Emergency Management Directorate, answered employer questions stemming from the incident, including: “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 replied: “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.”
Jillings added that none of the exceptions to work-relatedness in Section 1904.5(b)(2) apply to the situation described.
