OSHA misses deadline for temporary standard

President Joe Biden directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Executive Order 13999 on worker health and safety to issue a temporary emergency standard on COVID-19 by March 15, 2021. The agency missed the deadline but is expected to issue the standard within the next few weeks as directed by the president.

The temporary emergency standard, which is expected to look much like the guidance issued by the agency in January, can be issued initially without notice and comment if OSHA determines workers are in grave danger and an emergency standard is needed to protect them. A final regulation then must be published within six months. The AFL-CIO has pushed the Biden administration to issue the emergency standard quickly, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has raised concerns about a standard that is onerous or confusing, especially as many employers already have their own workplace safety protocols.

Before the issuance of the temporary emergency standard, OSHA is rolling out a program to focus on "high-risk" employers—that is, employers whose employees are at "serious risk" of contracting COVID-19 on the job. President Biden directed the agency to roll out this program in his Executive Order 13999.

To enable the agency to enforce its new standards, Congress provided the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) with an additional $200 million, $100 million of which is for OSHA in the recently passed American Rescue Plan.