Occupational Safety and Health Administration Issues Revised Covid-19 Guidance
By Kiki Council
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published updated guidance titled “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace.”FN1 This Guidance is not a standard or regulation, and creates no new legal obligations.FN2 Instead, the Guidance summarizes the precautionary measures employers should take in the provision of safe working environments. Importantly, this Guidance likely lays the framework for what employers should expect under the Biden administration should any future, temporary emergency COVID-19 standards be put in place.
OSHA notes that implementation of a workplace COVID-19 prevention program is the “most effective way” to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at work.FN3 Per the new Guidance, the most effective COVID-19 workplace prevention programs have the following elements:
1. An assigned workplace coordinator responsible for COVID-19 issues on the employer’s behalf.
2. Identification of where and how workers might be exposed to COVID-19 at work, including a thorough hazard assessmentFN4 identifying potential workplace hazards related to COVID-19.
3. Identification of a combination of measures that will limit the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, in line with the principals of the hierarchy of controls: elimination/substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, safe work practices, and PPE.FN5
4. Consideration of protections for workers at higher risk for severe illness through supportive policies and practices.
5. Establishment of a system for communicating effectively with works in a language they understand.
6. Education and training of workers on the employer’s COVID-19 policies and procedures using accessible formats and in a language they understand.
7. Instructing workers who are infected or potentially infected to stay home and isolate or quarantine.
8. Minimization of the negative impact of quarantine and isolation on workers.
9. Isolation workers who show symptoms at work.
10. Performance of enhanced cleaning and disinfection after people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 have been in the facility.
11. Provision guidance on screening and testing.
12. Recording and reporting COVID-19 infections and deaths to OSHA.
13. Implementation of protections from retaliation and setting up an anonymous process for workers to voice concerns about COVID-19-related hazards.FN6
14. Making a COVID-19 vaccine or vaccination series available at no cost to all eligible employees.
15. Not distinguishing between workers who are vaccinated and those who are not.
Please contact Campbell Litigation for assistance with implementing an effective COVID-19 prevention program at your workplace.
Footnotes:
FN1 – United States Department of Labor – OSHA, “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace,” available at https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/safework.
FN2 – Id.
FN3 – Id.
FN4 – Information on hazard assessments on COVID-19 may be found here: https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/hazards.
FN5 – Information on the hierarchy of controls in a COVID-19 response may be found here: https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/control-prevention#:~:text=Employers'%20COVID-19%20response%20plans,safe%20work%20practices%2C%20and%20PPE.
FN6 – Section 11(c) of OSHA prohibits discharging or in any other way discriminating against an employee for engaging in various occupational safety and health violations, see https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1977/1977.3.