Text from the OSHA Logging Standard Amendment issued
September 8, 1995 in the Federal Register Paragraph
(d)(6)(iv) -- End of Workshift Accounting of Employees
The final rule requires that the employer account for each employee at the end of each
workshift. OSHA was requested to provide additional clarification of this requirement in
the revised compliance directive.
First, the employer need not personally conduct the actual end of shift accounting of
each employee. The employer may delegate this task, but the employer remains ultimately
responsible under the standard for assuring that employees are not inadvertently left in
the woods, especially an employee who may be injured.
Second, this provision does not require employers to prohibit employees from remaining
at the work site after the end of the work shift to engage in personal activities, such as
hunting, camping, or cutting fire wood for personal use. Rather, OSHA's intent was to
assure that no employee, particularly an injured employee, be inadvertently left in the
woods without assistance. The rulemaking record includes several reports of accidents in
which employees were not discovered in a timely fashion and died (Ex. 4-64, 26A). The
revised compliance directive also makes clear that after the workshift has ended and the
employer has ascertained that the employee is done with work, including overtime work, and
is safely accounted for, the final rule does not prohibit the employer from allowing the
employee to remain in the area for personal reasons. OSHA is revising the compliance
directive to reflect this.
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