The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is calling for OSHA to tighten its response to COVID-19, especially its oversight and tracking of regional enforcement actions related to the pandemic -- recommendations Trump-era officials rejected but which the agency could revisit under the Biden administration.
OSHA has released a broad new guide for employers to mitigate COVID-19 infection risks in the workplace, its first step toward tightening Trump-era policies for the pandemic following President Joe Biden’s executive order requiring the agency to update its guidance while considering an emergency temporary standard (ETS).
California Attorney General (AG) Xavier Becerra (D) is launching a new section within his division of public rights that will in part bolster enforcement of worker health and safety rules, including of the controversial new Cal/OSHA emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from COVID-19.
Attorneys representing employers expect OSHA to quickly implement President Joe Biden’s agenda for the agency including aggressive enforcement and a new COVID-19 standard, but several pending lawsuits and enforcement challenges could end up curtailing its authority regardless.
Former Trump OSHA acting chief Loren Sweatt is downplaying President Joe Biden’s executive order directing the agency to bolster its COVID-19 response and potentially craft an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for the virus, saying the order mostly maintains OSHA’s approach from her tenure and that an ETS is unlikely to succeed.
President Joe Biden is poised to nominate California Labor Secretary Julie Su as Deputy Secretary of Labor, deepening the administration’s ties to the Golden State just as OSHA is weighing whether to base its expected COVID-19 workplace safety standard on California’s policy for the virus.
Labor unions and worker safety groups are welcoming President-elect Joe Biden’s first appointees to OSHA as a sign that the agency will move quickly on the new administration’s priority agenda for pandemic response, enforcement and a host of other issues, even before Biden names a permanent OSHA head.
President Joe Biden is ordering OSHA to act by March 15 on a potential emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19 that could include a mask mandate for workplaces, confirming expectations he would seek an imminent rule as part of a sweeping pandemic plan that also aims to bolster the agency’s enforcement and guidance.
President-elect Joe Biden’s planned COVID-19 stimulus bill would allow OSHA to extend its expected emergency temporary standard (ETS) for the virus to industries the agency does not currently regulate, including several categories of government work, alongside boosts to OSHA’s enforcement and training budgets.
Attorneys representing employers say President-elect Joe Biden could return Obama-era OSHA chief David Michaels to the agency on a short-term basis to lead its COVID-19 response, including possible development of an emergency temporary standard (ETS), ahead of Biden nominating a permanent OSHA secretary.