Information for Medical Examiners

Establishing Work-Relatedness of an Injury

An injury is work-related if it occurs:

On the employer’s premises and the person is there to work; or

Off the employer’s premises and the person is there to work; or

the injury is related to the person’s work or status as an employee.

Work is defined as duties, activities, or tasks that produce a product or service; that are done in exchange for money, goods, services, profit, or benefit; and that are legal activities in the United States.

An injury is considered work-related for the types of employment and other criteria listed below:

  • Working full-time or part-time for pay or compensation, including at home;

  • Volunteer workers who perform the same duties or functions as paid employees and are exposed to the same hazards as paid employees (e.g., firefighters, rescue squad personnel, hospital volunteers, and others);

  • Institutionalized persons, including inmates of penal and mental institutions, who are employed off the premises of their institutions (e.g., inmates participating in litter pick-up on highways);

  • Traveling to or from a job, but not commuting to or from work (e.g., sales person traveling from one client to another);

  • Homicides and suicides that occur at work;

  • Working for a family business, including a family farm (activity should be related to a profit-oriented business); and

  • Members on active duty in the Armed Forces, including the National Guard or Reserves.
Last Reviewed: 2/28/2020