OSHA, CDC, and the CMS mandate: This, that, and other things for health care

Healthcare employers have a lot to keep track of with mandates from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and more. Here’s the latest.

New requirements

In June 2021, OSHA issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) that required a variety of actions for healthcare providers. This included continuing personal protective equipment (PPE) programs, respiratory protection standards for personnel “providing care to persons who are suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19,” enhanced recordkeeping that required not only the 300 log but also a separate COVID-19 log for employees who may have contracted COVID other than in the workplace, and paid leave to obtain vaccines or because of COVID exposure or illness.

That ETS expired in December with no new permanent rule yet being enacted, but OSHA isn’t ignoring healthcare standards. It clearly stated in its December 27, 2021, “Statement on the Status of the OSHA COVID-19 Healthcare ETS” that it intends to create a rule.

OSHA states it will “vigorously enforce the general duty clause and its general standards, including the [PPE] and respiratory protection standards to help protect healthcare employees from the hazard of COVID-19.”