What types of exposures should concern the worker?
The standard covers records documenting the amount of worker exposure to “toxic substances and harmful physical agents,” which may include:

• Metals and dusts, such as lead, cadmium and silica.
• Biological agents, such as bacteria, viruses and fungi.
• Physical stress, such as noise, heat, cold, vibration, repetitive motion and ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.

What does “access” mean to a worker?
Access means the right to examine and copy medical and exposure records. An employer must permit a worker and, in certain circumstances his designated representative, to access exposure and medical records relevant to the worker free of charge, within a reasonable period of time. The worker and the designated representative may access the medical and exposure records in one of three ways:

1. The employer may give the worker a copy of the document,
2. The employer may provide facilities for the worker to copy the document, or
3. The employer may loan the worker the document to copy it offsite.

What types of records may a worker access?
The worker may access any exposure records that show the measuring or monitoring of his exposure to a toxic substance or harmful physical agent. If the employer does not have any records that specifically chart the worker’s exposure levels, the worker may access the exposure records of other workers who engaged in similar work or working conditions and may have experienced similar exposures. A worker’s exposure records include:

• Monitoring results of workplace air or measurements of toxic substances or harmful physical agents in the workplace, including personal, area, grab, wipe or other forms of sampling results.
• Biological monitoring results, such as blood and urine test results.
• Material safety data sheets containing information about a substance’s hazards to human health.

The worker also may access any medical records concerning his health status that were created or maintained by a physician, nurse, health care professional or technician. A worker’s medical records include:

• Medical and employment questionnaires or histories.
• Results of medical examinations and laboratory tests.
• Medical opinions, diagnoses, progress notes and recommendations.
• First-aid records.
• Descriptions of treatments and prescriptions.
• Worker medical complaints.

In addition, the worker may access any analyses (i.e., compilations of data or statistical studies) of medical and exposure records that concern his working conditions or workplace. If an analysis includes information that could be used to directly or indirectly identify individual workers, however, the employer is required to remove these identifiers to the extent possible before permitting worker access to the analysis. Examples of identifiers include a worker’s name, address, Social Security number and job title.

What types of records can a designated worker representative access?
The OSHA standard recognizes two types of designated representatives: (1) an individual or organization to which the worker has given written authorization to access his medical or exposure records, and (2) a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent. To access worker information, representatives must follow very specific requirements:

• Worker exposure records — Recognized or certified collective bargaining agents may access worker exposure records without an individual worker’s written consent. The designated representative must request access in writing from the employer and must specify the records to be disclosed and the occupational health need for accessing the records.
• Worker medical records — Designated representatives may access the medical records of any worker who has given the representative specific written consent. As with worker access to medical records, access is limited to those records pertaining to the authorizing worker.
• Analyses — For the purpose of analyses using exposure or medical records, recognized or certified collective bargaining agents may access the records without an individual worker’s written consent. As with worker access, however, the employer must remove or prevent access to any information in these analyses that could reasonably be used to identify the individual worker whose records are the subject of the analyses.

COPYRIGHT ©2003, ISO Services Properties, Inc. CH-50-07 2/28/03