OSHA's March 17, 2021 letter addressed two commuting scenarios. In the first, an employee driving from home to a customer worksite has a motor vehicle accident and receives medical treatment beyond first aid. In the second, an employee traveling on business checks into a hotel and then has an accident driving from the hotel to the customer worksite.
For the home-to-worksite trip, OSHA explained that while injuries are generally work-related when they result from events in the work environment (1904.5(a), with 'work environment' defined at 1904.5(b)(1)), and travel-related injuries are generally work-related when the employee is acting 'in the interest of the employer' (1904.5(b)(6)), normal commutes are an exception. Citing its Federal Register guidance, OSHA reiterated that 'injuries and illnesses that occur during an employee's normal commute to and from work are not considered work-related.' An employee's initial trip from home to any worksite is a commute, so the accident 'is not work-related and does not need to be recorded.'
For the hotel scenario, section 1904.5(b)(6)(i) provides that an employee on travel status who checks into a hotel or motel establishes a 'home away from home,' and their activities must then be evaluated 'in the same manner as an employee who leaves work and is essentially at home.' The result: 'when an employee has established a home away from home, and is reporting to a fixed worksite, injuries or illnesses are not considered work-related if they occur while the employee is commuting between the temporary residence and the job location and are therefore not recordable.'