OSHA drops “Protecting Workers” guidance

On January 29, 2021, OSHA published "Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace," which OSHA states will be updated based on standards and developments in science and is "intended to inform employers and workers in most workplace settings outside of healthcare to help them identify risks of being exposed and/or contracting COVID-19 at work and to help them determine appropriate control measures to implement. There is a discussion at the beginning of this guidance stating healthcare employers have different guidance and to basically remember some industries have additional guidance specific to their industry. This appears to be OSHA broadening its scope to make sure all Employers are aware that these likely apply to them.

OSHA states this guidance contains (1) Recommendations and (2) Descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards.

One of the first pieces tackled in this guidance is that Employers should implement “COVID-19 Prevention Programs” and that the most effective of these programs contain the following KEY ELEMENTS:

1. Conducting a Hazard Assessment:

   -Assign a workplace coordinator

   -Identify where and how workers might be exposed to COVID-19 at work with OSHA stating this is

   most effective if workers are involved in identifying the hazards;

2. Identifying a combination of measures that limit the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace:

   A. Eliminating the hazard by separating and sending home infected or potentially infected people

   from the workplace,

   B. Physical distancing,

   C. installing barriers where physical distancing cannot be maintained,

   D. suppressing the spread of the hazard using face coverings,

   E. Improving ventilation,

   F. Using applicable PPE to protect workers from exposure,

   G. Providing the supplies necessary good hygiene practices, and

   H. Performing routine cleaning and disinfection;

3. Supportive policies and practices for workers at high risk for severe illness;

4. Effective communication for reporting sickness or exposure;

5. Educate and train workers on your COVID-19 policies and procedures;

6. Instruct workers on quarantine;

7. Minimize the impact of quarantine;

8. Isolating sick workers;

9. Performing enhanced cleaning and disinfection after people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 has been in the facility (they had specifics on this that included vacuuming, giving goggle and aprons to cleaning workers, and specifics on EPA-registered disinfectants);

10. Providing guidance on employer screening and testing to the employees; and

11. Implementing protection from retaliation for workers who raise COVID-19 related concerns.

There are about eleven pages of guidance, but notable in one of the items that OSHA sets forth is the when to quarantine guidance, as set forth below which is a summary of CDC guidance:

Workers should quarantine if they have been exposed to COVID-19, which means:

1. They were within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more within a 24-hour period, starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to testing specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated, or

2. They provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19, or

3. They had direct physical contact with a person who has COVID-19 (hugged or kissed them), or

4. They shared eating or drinking utensils with a person who has COVID-19, or

5. Someone who has COVID-19 sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on them.

Local public health authorities determine and establish the quarantine options for their jurisdictions. CDC guidance provides that individuals who have been exposed should:

• Stay home for 14 days after last contact with a person who has COVID-19,

• Watch for fever (100.4°F), cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19, and

• To the extent possible, stay away from others, especially people who are at higher risk for getting very sick from COVID-19.

CDC also recognizes that local public health departments may consider other options for ending quarantine; for example, end quarantine after day 10 without testing, or after day 7 after receiving a negative test result (test must occur on day 5 or later). CDC continues to endorse quarantining for 14 days and recognizes that any quarantine shorter than 14 days balances reduced burden against a small possibility of spreading the virus. Therefore, after stopping a quarantine of less than 14 days, these individuals should:

• Watch for symptoms until 14 days after exposure;

• Immediately self-isolate and contact the local public health authority or their healthcare providers if symptoms appear; and

• Wear a face covering, stay at least 6 feet from others, wash hands, avoid crowds, and take other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

VACCINES - OSHA also talks about vaccines and that employers should provide employees with information on the benefits of vaccines and that even if employees get vaccines that all employees should continue to follow safety guidance of wearing a mask and social distancing because the evidence does not support that the vaccine prevents the transmission from person to person.

Overall, this is likely just the beginning of OSHA stepping more forward into this space even though it has been active since March. Since they have the ability to create enforcement orders, it should be something employers are paying attention to as they continue to investigate employers that are not meeting their standards or appear retaliatory to employees reporting unsafe work practices.

If you want to check out the whole guidance as published, click here.