Employers are not exempt from federal requirements to record workplace safety injuries and illnesses involving intoxicated workers, even if post-accident testing reveals the employee was drunk at the time of the incident.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently issued an interpretation letter in response to a December 2015 inquiry outlining a scenario in which an employee sustained a hand injury, received treatment and was immediately given a drug test — the results of which indicated the employee was intoxicated by alcohol.