OSHA recommends COVID-19 safety measures for workplaces
Prompted by an Executive Order (EO) from President Joe Biden on his second day in office, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued new guidance to employers on protecting employees from the risk of COVID-19 infection in the workplace.
No new legal requirements, but . . .
OSHA’s guidance doesn’t create any new legal requirements for employers but outlines what the agency recommends as appropriate safety measures. They include assigning a workplace coordinator responsible for COVID-19 issues and conducting a hazard assessment of where and how workers might be exposed to the virus at work.
In addition, you should identify measures to limit COVID-19’s spread in the workplace. They should include a combination of eliminating hazardous conditions and implementing engineering controls, workplace administrative policies, and personal protective equipment (PPE), such as:
- Separating and sending home infected or potentially infected people from the workplace;
- Implementing physical distancing in all communal work areas (including remote work and telework);
- Installing barriers where physical distancing cannot be maintained;
- Suppressing the spread of the hazard using face coverings;
- Improving ventilation;
- Using applicable PPE to protect workers from exposure;
- Providing the supplies necessary for good hygiene practices; and
- Performing routine cleaning and disinfection.
Provide protections for higher-risk employees