Updated August 21, 2020
TCIA advises our members to check back to this page often for updates on actions by Congress and other COVID-19 news that may impact the tree care industry. Many of the links on this website will bring you to outside websites.
ANSWER: It depends. In April, OSHA released guidelines saying that COVID-19 was generally not a recordable illness. However, they have recently updated this guidance. COVID-19 is a recordable illness if: The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
You can read the full guidance from OSHA here: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf. Per OSHA: “Recording a COVID-19 illness does not, of itself, mean that the employer has violated any OSHA standard. And pursuant to existing regulations, employers with 10 or fewer employees and certain employers in low hazard industries have no recording obligations; they need only report work-related COVID-19 illnesses that result in a fatality or an employee's in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.” Tree care companies should continue to be aware of the risks of COVID-19 spreading within a workplace, continue to carefully review cases, and contact legal counsel with specific questions on this requirement.