ALERT requests Letter of Interpretation for OSHA cold/flu exemption

July 7, 2022.  ALERT requested a letter of interpretation from OSHA of 1904.5(b)(2)(viii), an exemption to recording and reportability of an illness, which states an employer is “not required to record illnesses or injuries if… [t]he illness is the common cold or flu.” Specifically, ALERT asked how OSHA determines whether the common cold and flu is the source of an employee’s illness – or an occupational exposure to oil or chemicals with initial symptoms that mimic symptoms of common colds and flu.