OSHA says employers should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new COVID-19 guidance exempting fully vaccinated people from many infection-control measures like masking and social distancing when deciding what is “appropriate to protect fully vaccinated workers,” and plans to soon update its own guide.
November 15, 2026
Employers are pressing OSHA to soften its planned COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) by citing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new guidance loosening mask mandates and other requirements for fully vaccinated people, saying it undermines prior calls for strict workplace mandates.
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An asbestos-focused citizen group is urging the Biden administration to mandate steps to protect workers from the notorious carcinogen in its plans for sweeping upgrades to buildings and infrastructure nationwide, claiming that while OSHA and EPA have standards in place for the substance, few employers are actively following them.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has unveiled new COVID-19 guidance that allows “fully vaccinated” individuals to avoid wearing masks or socially distancing in many settings, just as employers are urging OSHA to include similar language in its upcoming emergency temporary standard (ETS).
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An OSHA enforcement official says the agency is working with the Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor (SOL) on policies for considering vaccinated workers’ status as it implements its COVID-19 national emphasis program (NEP), with delegated states slated to decide soon on whether to adopt the federal enforcement plan.
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As the White House continues to weigh OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19, several states are adapting their emergency pandemic rules for long-term use, including moves by California regulators to loosen requirements for vaccinated workers and by Oregon to retain that state’s once-temporary standard indefinitely.
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The Department of Labor (DOL) is touting a new ruling from an administrative law judge (ALJ) upholding OSHA’s citation against a Florida healthcare center finding managers “exposed workers to more than 50 attacks” from residents, shortly after the House passed a bill to mandate a new workplace violence standard.
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OSHA has issued interim enforcement guidance for revisions the Trump administration made last year to the agency’s beryllium standards, detailing procedures to guide compliance officers’ site inspections and citations for alleged violations of the revised policies for general industry worksites, shipyards and construction sites.
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OSHA appears to be readying a request for information to inform a first-time update to its 1971 safety standard for mechanical power presses, after the agency first announced that it was planning to rework the policy during the George W. Bush administration but took no concrete steps toward a new version for almost 14 years.
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OSHA is touting a proposed $265,265 penalty against the discount retail chain Dollar Tree as highlighting the latest in a long string of violations by a company with “a history of not taking the safety of its workers and customers seriously,” the latest sign that the agency has dropped a Trump-era ban on “regulation by shaming.”
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