What OSHA Records May an Employee Access?

This article describes what OSHA records an employee may access.

Employees may access any employee exposure records that show the measuring or monitoring of their own exposure to a toxic substance or harmful physical agent. If the employer does not have any records that specifically chart an employee’s own exposure levels, the employee may access the exposure records of employees who engage in similar work or working conditions and may have experienced exposures similar to the employee’s. Employee exposure records include the following:

1. Monitoring results of workplace air or measurements of toxic substances or harmful physical agents in the workplace, including personal, area, grab, wipe, or other forms of sampling results.

2. Biological monitoring results, such as blood and urine test results.

3. Safety data sheets (SDSs) containing information about a substance’s hazards to human health.

Employees may also access any employee medical records concerning their own health status that were created or maintained by a physician, nurse, health care professional, or technician. 

Employee medical records include the following:

1. Medical and employment questionnaires or histories.

2. Results of medical examinations and laboratory tests.

3. Medical opinions, diagnoses, progress notes, and recommendations.

4. First-aid records.

5. Descriptions of treatments and prescriptions.

6. Employee medical complaints.

In addition, employees may access any analyses —compilations of data or statistical studies—of employee medical and exposure records that concern their working conditions or workplace. If an analysis includes information that could be used to directly or indirectly identify individual employees, however, the employer is required to remove these “identifiers” to the extent possible before permitting employee access to the analysis. Examples of identifiers include an employee’s name, address, social security number, and job title.

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this article, other knowledge base articles, and the Compliancy Group website do not, and are not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials in the Knowledge Base and on the Compliancy Group website are for general informational purposes only.  Information in this or any Knowledge Base article, or on the Compliancy Group website, may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This article may contain links to third-party websites.  Such links are only for the convenience of authorized users of Compliancy Group's services.