OSHA chief Doug Parker told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a sworn July 25 declaration that his agency is “on track” to complete a long-term COVID-19 standard for healthcare workers by September or October, despite Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s recent comments that the rule could take as long as five months.
The coalition of unions suing OSHA to revive its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for the healthcare sector say the agency’s self-imposed timeline for a permanent rule appears at risk of slipping by as much as two months, citing comments by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh during a Senate appropriations hearing.
Labor union representatives are attacking California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposal to remove “exclusion pay” requirements from its proposed long-term COVID-19 worker-safety regulation, saying that if the state drops its existing requirement to pay infected workers for time away from their duties many will come to work sick and further spread the virus.
OSHA intends to issue its long-term healthcare industry standard for preventing COVID-19 infections in September, according to the agency’s newly updated unified agenda of future regulatory actions, while other key rulemakings are being delayed by months or more from their previously announced targets.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has released a draft long-term COVID-19 rule that is already drawing employer concerns for its stricter definition of “close contact,” but the same stakeholders are welcoming plans to end the controversial “exclusion pay” requirement that mandates compensation for workers removed from their duties under the standard.
OSHA says it has secured a settlement agreement with several subsidiaries of the food-processing giant JBS Foods that will mandate infection-control plans at seven plants across six states, after COVID-19 outbreaks at two of the facilities in 2020 led to seven worker deaths and hundreds of confirmed infections.
Unions and employers used the final round of written comments on OSHA’s planned long-term COVID-19 standard for healthcare facilities to renew and supplement their arguments on the scope of the rule, with labor groups offering an array of claims to support strict mandates while industry focused on responding to specific questions raised by officials.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is posting new fact sheets and updated frequently asked question (FAQ) documents for the recently adopted third revision to its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS), highlighting changes to key definitions and requirements for testing, quarantining, face masking and more.
OSHA officials used the public hearing on a forthcoming permanent COVID-19 rule for healthcare facilities to press union representatives for more data and testimony to support the groups’ arguments that a stringent regulation is needed to protect workers, asking questions on workplace infections, cost management and a host of other issues.
Labor unions and safety groups are urging OSHA to reject employers’ calls to defer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in any permanent COVID-19 safety standard for healthcare workers, saying that agency’s statutory mission and procedures are distinct from -- and less stringent than -- the OSH Act’s mandate to ensure safe workplaces.