On December 7, 2020, Eric J. Conn (Chair of Conn Maciel Carey’s national OSHA Practice), Susan Wilcox (a CIH and CSP with Safety Resource Associates in Virginia), and special guest Jennifer Rose (VOSH Cooperative Programs Director with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry) presented a webinar regarding Lessons Learned from the Roll-out of Virginia OSHA’s New COVID-19 Standard.

Earlier this Summer, Virginia became the first state in the nation to promulgate a mandatory safety regulation designed to reduce COVID-19 infections in the workplace, when Virginia’s Governor Ralph Northam announced the commonwealth’s adoption of an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”).  VOSH’s COVID-19 ETS went to effect on July 27th, with major elements of the rule kicking in in August and September.

Now, several months into implementation of the COVID-19-specific regulation, we checked in on the status of the rule, challenges employers have faced complying with it, and enforcement issues. We are pleased to share links to a copy of the slides and a recording of the webinar.

Also, during the webinar, we collected numerous questions from the audience, and in collaboration prepared the written Q&A linked here.  These Q&As have also be incorporated into our full compendium of COVID-19 FAQs on Conn Maciel Carey’s COVID-19 Task Force Resource Page.

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For additional resources on issues related to COVID-19, please visit Conn Maciel Carey’s COVID-19 Resource Page for an extensive index of frequently asked questions with our answers about HR, employment law, and OSHA regulatory developments and guidance, as well as COVID-19 recordkeeping and reporting flow charts.  Likewise, subscribe to our Employer Defense Report blog and OSHA Defense Report blog for regular updates about the Labor and Employment Law or OSHA implications of COVID-19 in the workplace.  Conn Maciel Carey’s COVID-19 Task Force is monitoring federal, state, and local developments closely and is continuously updating these blogs and the FAQ page with the latest news and resources for employers.