Fed OSHA COVID ETS

VOSH Begins the Process of Withdrawing its “Permanent” COVID-19 Rule

Eric J. Conn Leave a comment

By Conn Maciel Carey LLP’s COVID-19 Task Force

Last Wednesday (February 16th), at the direction of Virginia’s new Governor, Virginia OSHA’s Safety and Health Codes Board voted to withdraw VOSH’s COVID-19 Regulation. The Board’s vote came after VOSH recommended that COVID-19 no longer constituted a “grave danger,” the legal showing required to justify an emergency rule.  Procedurally, the board vote was just the first step. Next is a 30-day public comment period, followed by a public hearing, then a final Board vote. If the measure is in fact repealed after the final Board vote, then Virginia employers would no longer have to require employees who work indoors to wear a face covering,; social distance; provide employee training; improve or maintain ventilation systems; or inform the VA Department of Health about outbreaks.

Although this move comes in lock step with Friday’s CDC announcement that it is rescinding mask guidance, along with other states like California and New Jersey rescinding their mask mandate, on January 15th Virginia’s newly elected Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an Executive Order instructing the Board to Continue reading →

Fed OSHA’s COVID-19 ETS: What You Need to Know About Vaccination, and Patient Screening & Management

Beeta B. Lashkari 1 Comment

By Conn Maciel Carey’s COVID-19 Task Force

Today’s topics on the Fed OSHA COVID-19 ETS are vaccination, and patient screening and management.

Vaccination

29 C.F.R. Section 1910.502(m) requires that all employers covered by the ETS support COVID-19 vaccination for each employee.  This summary describes the vaccination requirements of the ETS.

To support COVID-19 vaccination, employers must provide to their employees:

    • reasonable time during work hours for employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, and
    • paid leave for employees to receive vaccinations and any side effects experienced following vaccination (to the extent these occur during regular work hours).

“Reasonable time” may include, but is not limited to: Continue reading →

COVID-19 OSHA Enforcement and Regulatory Update [Webinar Recording]

Theresa Green Leave a comment

On  April 20, 2021, Aaron Gelb, Amanda Strainis-Walker and Dan Deacon presented a webinar regarding a “COVID-19 OSHA Enforcement and Regulatory Update”.

Since the 2020 presidential election was decided, employers have waited, wondered, and watched for signs to see how President Biden’s OSHA would regulate and enforce COVID-19 safety in the workplace. Although OSHA missed the March 15 deadline set by President Biden in his Day One Executive Order to issue its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), there have been several important developments providing a window into how OSHA will approach COVID-19 enforcement, most notably the agency’s launch of a COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (“COVID-19 NEP”) to focus the agency’s enforcement efforts on “companies that put the largest number of workers at serious risk of contracting the virus,” as well as prioritizing employers that “retaliate against workers for complaints about unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or for exercising other rights protected by federal law.” OSHA also updated its Interim Enforcement Response Plan, which details how OSHA’s field staff should conduct COVID-related inspections, including whether they will resume in person inspections or continue conducting them remotely as has been the norm for the past year.

During this webinar, participants learned about: Continue reading →

[Webinar] COVID-19 OSHA Enforcement and Regulatory Update

Theresa Green Leave a comment

On Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 1:00 P.M. ET, join Aaron Gelb, Amanda Strainis-Walker and Dan Deacon for a webinar regarding a “COVID-19 OSHA Enforcement and Regulatory Update”.

Since the 2020 presidential election was decided, employers have waited, wondered, and watched for signs to see how President Biden’s OSHA would regulate and enforce COVID-19 safety in the workplace. Although OSHA missed the March 15 deadline set by President Biden in his Day One Executive Order to issue its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), there have been several important developments providing a window into how OSHA will approach COVID-19 enforcement, most notably the agency’s launch of a COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (“COVID-19 NEP”) to focus the agency’s enforcement efforts on “companies that put the largest number of workers at serious risk of contracting the virus,” as well as prioritizing employers that “retaliate against workers for complaints about unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or for exercising other rights protected by federal law.” OSHA also updated its Interim Enforcement Response Plan, which details how OSHA’s field staff should conduct COVID-related inspections, including whether they will resume in person inspections or continue conducting them remotely as has been the norm for the past year.

During this webinar, participants will learn about: Continue reading →