At the time of the event or exposure, was the affected employee present in the work environment as an employee, or was the affected employee present in the work environment as a member of the general public?

• The affected employee was in the work environment as a member of the general public.
• The affected employee was in the work environment as an employee.

NOTE: In some situations, an injury or illness has nothing to do with the employee’s work or status as an employee. For example, an employee of a retail store patronized that store as a customer on a non work day and is injured in a fall. This exception allows the employer not to record cases that occur outside of the employment relationship when his or her establishment is also a public place and the worker happens to be using the facility as a member of the general public. See, the preamble to the 2001 final rule revising OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation at 66 Federal Register 5950.