Labor & Industries (L&I), Washington State

Employee Medical and Exposure Records Chapter 296-802, WAC

Effective Date: 08/01/04

WAC 296-802-200 Keep Employee Medical and Exposure Records

For printing

Your Responsibility:

To keep employee medical records, exposure records, and analyses

IMPORTANT:

• Physicians or other health care personnel may keep medical records for you.
• You may keep information in any form as long as the information is retrievable.
• Unless a specific occupational safety and health rule provides a different time period, you must keep records for the period required by this chapter.

You must

Keep employee medical records	WAC 296-802-20005
Keep employee exposure records	WAC 296-802-20010
Keep analyses of medical or exposure records	WAC 296-802-20015

 

WAC 296-802-20005

Keep employee medical records

You must

• Keep medical records for at least as long as the employee works for you plus 30 years.

Exemption: If an employee works for you for less than one year and you provide the records to them when they leave employment, you don’t have to keep their medical records. You don’t have to keep the following records for any specific period: – Health insurance claims records maintained separately from your medical program and records – Records of first-aid treatment, if made on-site by a non-physician and if kept separately from the employee medical record.

You must

• Keep chest x-ray films in their original state, such as film or electronic image.

WAC 296-802-20010

Keep employee exposure records

IMPORTANT:

You don’t need to keep employee exposure records for exposure to toxic substances when they are:

• Purchased as a consumer product

  
  and

• Used in the same manner and frequency that a consumer would use them.

You must

• Keep employee exposure records for at least 30 years from the date the exposure record was made. These records include the following:

  – The sampling results

  – The collection methodology (sampling plan)

  – A description of the analytical and mathematical methods used

  – Background data to environmental monitoring or measuring, such as laboratory reports and work sheets.

Note: You don’t have to keep the actual background data for more than one year if you keep a summary of the data for 30 years.

You must

Keep a record, for at least 30 years, of the identity of any toxic substance used in your workplace. Include:

• Where the substance was used
• When the substance was used.

Note: The identity may be retained either as part of the exposure record or as a separate record.

 

Helpful Tool: Record Retention This helpful tool provides a list of other WISHA rules that require medical or exposure records and their retention periods.

WAC 296-802-20015
Keep analyses of medical or exposure records

You must

• Keep each analysis using medical or exposure records for at least 30 years.