DOL releases COVID-19 emergency temporary standard, covering healthcare workers

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) directing the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for controlling COVID-19 and protecting workers. On June 10, OSHA finally issued the ETS but limited it to healthcare settings. Let’s take a closer look.

Who’s covered

Labor unions and employee safety advocates have pushed for the government to issue an ETS since the beginning of the pandemic. They advocated for it to apply to meatpacking, transportation, and other sectors that suffered clusters of severe COVID-19 outbreaks.

Nevertheless, the ETS applies only to healthcare settings in which suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients are treated. The new standard covers:

• Employees in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities;
• Emergency responders;
• Home healthcare workers; and
• Employees in ambulatory care settings where suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients are treated.

Despite the limitation to healthcare settings, the DOL estimates the ETS will cover approximately 10.3 million workers.

ETS requirements

The ETS requires covered employers to: