OSHA Releases COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard for Health Care Workers

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for health care employers. It applies to most long term care providers, but some home care and hospice settings and off-site health care support services are exempt. The ETS will be effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register; it has been posted on the OSHA website, but has not yet been published. Compliance with most provisions will be required within 14 days of publication. However, employers will have 30 days to comply with provisions involving physical barriers, ventilation, and training.

LeadingAge National has provided a summary of the new regulations here. Members will note that they are already taking many of the actions required. Some new requirements include:

• Designating a safety coordinator to ensure compliance;
• Developing a workplace-specific hazard assessment, in collaboration with non-managerial employees;
• Informing employees of their rights under the ETS and not retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the ETS or engage in actions required by the ETS;
• Maintaining a COVID-19 log of all employee instances of COVID-19, without regard to occupational exposure.

In addition, the regulations continue the requirement to report work-related COVID-19 fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations to OSHA.

Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8838 or Sara Neitzel, sneitzel@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383