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Environmental & Risk Management / EH&S / Track

Track Work Restrictions

A work restriction might be placed on an employee because of a physical limitation, a lack of training, or some other reason. It is important to document and observe employee work restrictions to ensure that employee safety is maintained and that long-term liability is reduced.

A work restriction can be assigned to an employee in a number of ways:

• as part of the response to a workplace incident. From the Track Incidents / Response tab, you can enter a workplace restriction for the employee specified in the workplace incident report. For example, if an incident occurs and you must close off the area while you investigate and clean up after the incident, you may need to restrict employees from working in this area.
as part of a medical monitoring event.
• A routine medical checkup may show that an employee has a medical condition that limits their ability to lift heavy objects. From this medical monitoring event, you can set up the resulting work restriction.
• Medical monitoring and subsequent work restrictions can also be associated with workplace incidents. For example, if an employee sustains an injury due to a workplace mishap they might have follow-up medical monitoring. The medical monitoring may result in a work restriction until the injury is completely healed.
• explicitly assigned to an employee using the Track Work Restrictions task. This is handy for restrictions that are not medical-based or incident-based, such as a restriction due to a lack of training or required equipment. From this task, if necessary, you can associate the work restriction with a specific workplace incident and/or medical monitoring event.

With the Track Work Restrictions task, you can review an employee's work restrictions, edit existing work restrictions, and add new work restrictions. You might need to associate a new restriction with an employee as a result of their medical monitoring or a workplace incident.

To view an employee's work restrictions:

Follow this process to see work restrictions directly entered into the system as well as those created through incident responses and medical monitoring events.

1. In the Process Navigator, selectEH&S/ Track / Track Work Restrictions.
2. In the Filter pane select the name of the employee for whom you want to see work restrictions and click Show.
3. The system displays a list of work restrictions for this employee, both those that are current and that are completed.
4. For details on any restriction, click on it.

5. The Work Restriction Details form opens in the right pane with details about the restriction.

To create a new work restriction for an employee

In addition to entering work restrictions as part of medical monitoring, you can directly enter a work restriction using the Track Work Restrictions task. You can associate the work restriction with a medical monitoring event or workplace incident.

1. In the Process Navigator, select EH&S/ Track / Track Work Restrictions.
2. In the Filter pane select the name of the employee for whom you want to create a work restriction.
3. Click Add New.

4. The Work Restriction Details form opens in the right pane. Complete the following fields:

• Restriction Code -- The system will complete this field when you save the record.
• Restriction Category Code-- From the list of existing restriction types (categories), choose the type that best represents this restriction.
• Restriction Type -- Indicate whether this is a temporary or permanent restriction.
• Restriction Classification -- Choose a value from the drop-down list to indicate if the employee is out of work or has been assigned a restricted job. These values represent the language used by OSHA Form 300, columns K and L. Many of the reports use these classifications to categorize workplace incidents and lost productivity. You may encounter situations that the restriction varies over time. For example, someone is out for a number of days due to an incident, then returns to work in a limited or restricted capacity. In this case, you can create multiple restrictions for the incident and use this field to show each phase of the restriction.
• Start Date -- You must complete this field. Enter the date that the restriction should take effect. You must complete this field. Enter the date that the restriction should take effect. Restrictions are typically recorded as starting the day after the incident occurs, even if the employee leaves work (e.g., goes to the hospital) on the day of the incident.
• End Date -- If this is a temporary restriction, enter the date that the restriction will end. For example, if an employee is on medication that prevents them from operating heavy equipment, you can enter the estimated date that the medication is to end.
• Medical Monitoring Code -- If a work restriction is in effect because of the results of a medical exam (that is, medical monitoring), choose the associated medical monitoring event from the list of medical monitoring events for this employee. For example, a routine physical may indicate a potential problem that needs further investigation; until the problem is researched, the employee must refrain from operating heavy machinery. In this case, you would enter the medical monitoring event that initially indicated a potential problem and triggered the restriction from operating heavy equipment.
• Date Related Monitoring -- The system will complete this field with the value from the medical monitoring event which you are associating with the work restriction.
• Related Incident Code -- If this restriction is a result of a workplace incident, choose a workplace incident from the list of incidents associated with this employee. For example, if an employee hurt his back from a fall and is now restricted from heavy lifting, complete this field with the incident that documents this fall. Associating an incident with a workplace restriction can be vital for showing that the company adequately considered the employee's medical condition after a workplace mishap. This association is also necessary in cases in which the employee is seeking compensation for an injury sustained on the job.
• Lost Work (days) Manual Entry -- Use the Manual Entry field to override the auto-calculated value (Duration Days, below). You might want to complete this field if the particular employee or branch of an organization tallied lost work differently than the rest; for example, maybe the person anomalously was scheduled to work over the weekend following an incident and due to restriction could not. Completing this field should only be done when clearly needed and with caution, because failure to accurately report these values on required forms can carry significant legal consequences.
• Duration Days (auto-calculated) -- When you save the form, the system uses the start and end dates to calculate the number of days that the employee could not do their standard job. The system uses the ARCHIBUS definition of calendar days and holidays (the afm_cal_dates and afm_holiday_dates tables) to determine which days to count as working days. The count is inclusive of the start and end dates, meaning the day the restriction starts is counted as Day 1 and the date the restriction ends is the last day. Several reports present this information as their "Lost Work Days" value.
• Work Restriction Description -- Describe in detail the restriction. If necessary, you can attach documents with the details. A thorough description which clearly lists the restrictions is important for the employee's manager so that they do not schedule the employee for a task that they cannot handle. This description is also important for adhering to workplace regulations, and for noting work restrictions that are not a result of medical monitoring or workplace mishaps, such as work restrictions that are due to a lack of training or unsafe conditions.

5. Click Save at the top of the Work Restriction Details form.
6. Once you save the record, you can attach a document (photograph, PDF, Word document, etc.) that further describes and supports the restriction by completing the Work Restriction Document field:

• For information on working with this document field, see Using the Document Management System.
• The system will automatically adds this document to the document library, where the "Document Assigned to A..." field will indicate that this document is attached to a work restriction. For information on the document library, see Documentation / Track EH&S Documents task.
• If you need to attach multiple documents to support the work restriction, you can use the document library to attach the documents and complete the Related Work Restriction field with this work restriction.