The facts
- An employee parks in the company lot, trips on a broken kerb walking to the entrance, and lands heavily on a knee.
- The clinic X-rays the knee, finds nothing broken, and applies an ice pack.
- They work the rest of the shift normally.
The determination
Not recordable
Work-related, but it meets none of the 1904.7(a) recording criteria, so it is not recordable.
Decision trail
- 01
Did an event or exposure in the work environment cause or contribute to the case?
Yes — presumed work-related, subject to the 1904.5(b)(2) exceptions.
29 CFR § 1904.5(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception in § 1904.5(b)(2) specifically applies.
- 02
Is this a new case?
Yes.
29 CFR § 1904.6(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be a “new case” if:
- 03
Does the case meet one or more of the general recording criteria in 1904.7(a)?
No — the only treatment provided appears on the exhaustive first-aid list.
29 CFR § 1904.7(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to meet the general recording criteria, and therefore to be recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. You must also consider a case to meet the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.
29 CFR § 1904.7(b)(5)(iii)(iii) Are any other procedures included in first aid? No, this is a complete list of all treatments considered first aid for part 1904 purposes.
Computed at build time by Job13’s engine from the facts above — not written by hand. Change the facts and re-run it yourself →
What is actually going on here — Job13's explanation
The company parking lot is part of the work environment, so the presumption of work-relatedness applies — this is not a commuting case. People often stop there and assume anything outside the building is off the books; it is not.
But work-related is only the first of three tests. This case is work-related and it is a new case, and then it fails the third: an X-ray is a diagnostic procedure, and an ice pack is on the first-aid list. Nothing here is medical treatment, and no other 1904.7(a) criterion is met.
So the honest answer is a narrow one. The location does not keep this off the log — the treatment does. Change the treatment and the same fall in the same lot becomes recordable.
The provisions this turns on
In the regulation's own words
(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception in § 1904.5(b)(2) specifically applies.
The injury or illness is caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work.
Change one fact
If they had been hit by a car in the lot while driving in to work
The rule excludes injuries caused by a motor vehicle accident on a company parking lot or access road while the employee is commuting. That exception is about motor vehicle accidents while commuting — not about the parking lot as a place.
The determination on those facts instead
Not recordable
Excluded from work-relatedness by 1904.5(b)(2)(vii), so it is not recordable.
Decision trail
- 01
Did an event or exposure in the work environment cause or contribute to the case?
Yes — presumed work-related, subject to the 1904.5(b)(2) exceptions.
29 CFR § 1904.5(a)(a) Basic requirement. You must consider an injury or illness to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception in § 1904.5(b)(2) specifically applies.
- 02
Does a 1904.5(b)(2) exception apply?
Yes — exception (vii) applies.
29 CFR § 1904.5(b)(2)(vii)The injury or illness is caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work.
Your case is not this case
Scenarios are worked examples on stated facts. Small differences — who recommended the treatment, whether participation was voluntary, what the employee’s routine functions actually are — change the answer. Run your own facts, and the determination will show you which step decided it.
Check your case — freeNot legal advice. This page republishes 29 CFR Part 1904 as published by the eCFR and explains it. The recordkeeping duty is the employer’s. Where the rule requires judgement, Job13 says so rather than guessing — run your own case through the free check.