Is a soft tissue massage in your first aid kit?
Some days you trudge through voluminous OSHA regulation hopelessly trying to find a needle in haystack provision that you once read in your youth. Then there are other days where you stumble across a true gem. Today, I found a gem regarding a recordable injury.
Is a soft tissue massage medical treatment beyond first aid resulting in a recordable injury?
For those who may be new to the industrial arena, a recordable is a very serious issue. From the worker who gets a safety bonus, to the owner who pays insurance, to the enforcement authority who investigates, a recordable injury or illness, recordables have very grave consequences. Not recording a recordable injury or illness is even more severe. (see 29 CFR 1904.7: General Recording Criteria under the Title: Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illness).
So what is a recordable injury or illness? Certain scenarios have been the topic of may watercooler discussions in offices. Dr. Dunn, president of the American Physical Therapy Association, wrote OSHA to ask if soft tissue massages (similar to Active Release Technique ART), would be considered first aid for OSHA recordkeeping. My initial reaction is that a soft tissue massage is not what I believe first aid, but then I am not a medical professional.
What was OSHA’s response? Soft tissue massage is first aid, of course. OSHA explained that the soft tissue massage scenario, as described by Dr. Dunn, is not beyond first aid that would invoke a recordable injury alone. Other criteria, like missed work, could. Interestingly, OSHA found it irrelevant whether the massage was delivered by a licensed professional. Congratulations to Dr. Sharon Dunn for having the federal government determine that a soft tissue massage is first aid and can be offered to the employees without invoking the recordable statute.
Information for this article was sourced through this link: https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2019-05-23