OSHA is standing behind its refusal to classify cloth face coverings as personal protective equipment (PPE) subject to the same standards as medical gowns, respirators and other protective gear for workers, but is leaving the door open to reconsidering that decision if future research warrants it.
House and Senate Democrats say a bipartisan plan for short-term COVID-19 economic relief that includes a temporary federal liability waiver for employers against coronavirus-related lawsuits could help restart talks with the GOP, but the bill’s fate is in doubt as the White House and Senate Republican leadership are resisting the effort.
California employers and their attorneys are looking to a pending advisory panel to secure eased mandates in an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from COVID-19 recently adopted by the state’s OSHA (Cal/OSHA) standards board, arguing that numerous provisions appear impossible to comply with and potentially illegal.
President-elect Joe Biden has named Obama-era OSHA chief David Michaels to his COVID-19 task force, drawing praise from labor and worker safety groups that say Michaels’ appointment shows that the new administration will focus on workplace protections in its pandemic response.
The family of an Iowa meat-packing worker who died of COVID-19 is claiming that the company violated OSHA standards and several laws by failing to mandate face coverings, social distancing and other protective measures, in addition to allegations that mangers bet money on how many employees would contract the disease.
Oregon has formally enacted its emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19, broadening several requirements from a proposed version floated earlier in the fall and becoming the fourth state to advance targeted worker protection standards amid the pandemic, with compliance deadlines starting as soon as Dec. 7.
New OSHA data on its COVID-19 enforcement shows the agency is most often citing employers for violating respiratory protection standards but rarely invokes the general duty clause, even as OSHA is claiming that it can use that authority to mandate distancing, face coverings and other measures not required in regulation.
The California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) standards board is poised to adopt an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from COVID-19 amid 11th-hour calls by employer and industry groups to ease some requirements, and as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is ratcheting up restrictions on the public and businesses in response to soaring infections.
President-elect Joe Biden’s Department of Labor (DOL) transition team includes several Obama administration veterans along with union figures and California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) chief Doug Parker, bolstering predictions that OSHA will quickly return to Obama-era worker safety rulemaking priorities next year.
Attorneys representing employers are warning their clients to prepare for a rapid increase in OSHA enforcement and regulation as part of a broader realignment of the Department of Labor expected under President-elect Joe Biden’s administration following Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.