Safety Tidbit 2.48 - Access to Exposure Records

Safety Tidbit 2.48 – Access to Exposure Records

Reference:       1910.1020 - Access to employee exposure and medical records

This week I was reviewing a chapter in a textbook and came across a statement: “OSHA requires that employers inform employees of the results of personal exposure measurements that indicate overexposure.” Also, I had a client that did not want me to talk with employees, during my investigation, that may be exposed to chemicals and said they would determine what information they would share.

As I read OSHA’s Access to Employee exposure and medical records standard (1910.1020) it reads:

            “The purpose of this section is to provide employees and their designated representatives a right of access to relevant exposure and medical records; and to provide representatives of the Assistant Secretary a right of access to these records in order to fulfill responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Access by employees, their representatives, and the Assistant Secretary is necessary to yield both direct and indirect improvements in the detection, treatment, and prevention of occupational disease.”

Nowhere in there does it say that only information relevant to an overexposure is to be shared and that other information does not get shared. The whole purpose is transparency and to help make the workplace a safer place.

Furthermore, in paragraph 1020(b)(2) OSHA specifically says:

“This section applies to all employee exposure and medical records, and analyses thereof, of such employees, whether or not the records are mandated by specific occupational safety and health standards.”

OSHA also defines a toxic substance as:

"Toxic substance or harmful physical agent" means any chemical substance, biological agent (bacteria, virus, fungus, etc.), or physical stress (noise, heat, cold, vibration, repetitive motion, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, hypo - or hyperbaric pressure, etc.) which is listed in the latest printed edition of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS) [1910.1020(c)(13)].”

With hundreds of thousands of substances listed in RTECS suffice it to say pretty much any substance is covered by this standard and the employee has a right to access this information.

Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have an interesting safety or health question please let me know.