On Thursday, June 10, 2021, OSHA released its long awaited COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). Despite beliefs that the ETS would address all workplace settings, it only addresses workplace safety in the health care industry. Answers to the key questions regarding the ETS are outlined below:
Who does the ETS apply to?
The ETS
Following President Biden’s January mandate to OSHA to provide clear guidance to protect workers from COVID-19 exposure, OSHA has issued “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace.”
OSHA’s new guidance is intended to inform employers and workers of the risks of COVID-19, help identify risks of being exposed
Yesterday, on his first full day in office, President Biden signed an additional ten Executive Orders, among them one directing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take immediate action and issue guidance to employers on protecting workers from COVID-19.
Specifically identifying “healthcare workers and other essential workers, many of whom are people of
With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued new respiratory protection guidance focused on protecting workers in nursing homes, assisted living and other long-term care facilities (collectively “LTCFs”).
OSHA’s new guidance stresses the significance of proper and effective Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”) when dealing with COVID positive patients
On Friday, OSHA issued enforcement guidance regarding employers’ obligations to record COVID-19 cases. According to its previous statements, OSHA’s position is that COVID-19 is a recordable illness under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements and employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19 if:
(1) the case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by Centers for
On March 9, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued new guidance for employers to aid in the prevention of employee exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace, which can be found here.
After first briefly summarizing the symptoms of COVID-19 (including but not limited to fever, cough, headache, and shortness of breath) and transmission
In what should be viewed as a victory for employers, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently issued a decision limiting the scope of OSHA inspections. United States v. Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc., No. 16-17745 (11th Cir. 2018).
In February 2016, an employee at Mar-Jac’s poultry processing facility was
On October 11, 2018, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued a memorandum clarifying its position regarding safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing.
Two years ago, in October 2016, OSHA issued a memorandum that prohibited drug testing employees who reported injuries or illness unless there was an “objectively reasonable basis” for doing so.
Thanks to a recent federal appellate court decision, OSHA now has even more leeway to issue costly repeat citations to employers. As many employers know, there are different classifications for civil violations of OSHA regulations, including other-than-serious, serious, repeat, and willful. Penalties, both monetary and non-monetary, increase with higher classification levels. OSHA recently increased the
At this year’s National Safety Council (NSC) Congress & Expo in Indianapolis, OSHA’s Deputy Director of Enforcement Programs announced its preliminary list of the top ten citations issued for fiscal year 2017. OSHA’s top 10 violations for 2017 are as follows: