The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued an emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 for health care workers, which includes updated guidance for other workplaces as well as additional resources.
The emergency temporary standard establishes new requirements for settings where employees provide healthcare or health support services such as skilled nursing homes and home healthcare, with some exemptions where healthcare providers screen-out patients who may have COVID-19.
Emergency Temporary Standard Guidance
Here are some key points of the updated guidance for these workplaces:
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- Have a COVID-19 plan in writing: If there are more than 10 employees, have a written plan that designates a safety coordinator with the authority to ensure compliance. Also required: Conducting a workplace-specific hazard assessment, monitoring and limiting points of entry in areas where direct patient care is provided, and developing and implementing policies and procedures to limit the transmission of the disease.
- Supply workers with N95 respirators: Or other personal protective equipment for when they are indoors, in a vehicle with others for work purposes, or around those who are suspected or known to have COVID-19.
- Follow CDC guidelines for disinfecting: Workers will need to disinfect and clean surfaces and areas thoroughly based on CDC recommendations, as well as ensure ventilation systems are used properly.
- Provide PTO for COVID-19-related time-off: If workers become sick from COVID-19, or need to recover from any vaccine side-effects — they must work remotely or be give paid time off up to $1,400 per week.
- Vaccinated workers are exempt from some guidance: The ETS exempts fully vaccinated workers from masking, distancing, and barrier requirements when in areas where there is no reasonable expectation that someone with COVID-19 is present.
- Have a COVID-19 plan in writing: If there are more than 10 employees, have a written plan that designates a safety coordinator with the authority to ensure compliance. Also required: Conducting a workplace-specific hazard assessment, monitoring and limiting points of entry in areas where direct patient care is provided, and developing and implementing policies and procedures to limit the transmission of the disease.
“This standard is necessary to give our healthcare workers deeply needed protections,” said Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Jim Frederick. “This tailored standard allows OSHA to help the workers most in danger of contracting the virus, while the updated guidance will give other businesses across the country the information they need to help protect unvaccinated workers and continue mitigating spread in the workplace.”
This emergency temporary standard is called “Subpart U,” and will go into effect as soon as it’s published in the Federal Register. Employers will need to comply with some of the provisions within 14 days of publication, with 30 days for the remaining provisions.
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