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Labor and the Law
Employee Exposure and Medical Records
By Adam R. Young and Mark A. Lies II, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Employers often fail to appreciate the ramifications of industrial hygiene data and medical records. Even nondetect records must be maintained for 30-plus years
it does not impose exposure limits or medical surveillance
understand workplace exposures and make informed medical decisions. This standard operates independently of whether an
to toxic substances or harmful physical agents, including environmental monitoring, biological monitoring and records
unregulated chemical or even a chemical nondetect event.
An employee medical record includes records concerning an employee’s health status created or maintained by a healthcare professional, such as medical histories, exam results and
30 February 2026 Render
medical records.
Exposure records must be retained for at least 30 years. Medical records must be retained for the duration of employment plus 30 years. These requirements apply even if
and exposure records, not merely a right to inspect summaries or conclusions. Upon request, employers must provide copies and copying, generally within 15 working days. For exposure records, this right extends beyond an individual employee’s personal monitoring data to include records that reasonably work area or task.
may obtain exposure records without individual employee consent, while access to medical records requires the employee’s acceptable exposure levels or the absence of a regulatory exceedance. The standard focuses on transparency and informed decision-making, not compliance outcomes.
Compliance Risk
come with a penalty of more than $15,000.
failure to provide access to employee exposure and medical records may be cited on a per-record basis whenever they are request and review records as part of health and safety advocacy or grievances — raising the stakes for employers who might otherwise
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