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The COVID-19 outbreak is at top of mind for environment, health, and safety (EHS) professionals nationwide.
As the U.S. prepares to reopen, the nation’s leading safety advocate announces a multifaceted effort to help employers create safe workplaces in a post-coronavirus world. On April 23, the National Safety Council announced SAFER: Safe Actions for Employee Returns, a comprehensive effort to guide employers through the process of safely resuming traditional work and operations […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released an interim response plan refocusing enforcement resources to handle coronavirus-related complaints, referrals, and severe illness reports.
Oregon OSHA will begin systematically conducting spot-checks to verify that employers are complying with requirements aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. State workplace safety and health officials announced they are ramping up enforcement activity in response to a spike in complaints from workers who feel at risk of infectious disease exposure during the COVID-19 […]
April 16, 2020 (Falls Church, VA)—As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe, so does misinformation on personal protective equipment (PPE), decontamination, and indoor air quality. These misunderstandings are putting healthcare workers and the general public at an even greater risk. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has launched a public education effort to provide […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an enforcement memorandum instructing its inspectors to use discretion in enforcing injury and illness recordkeeping requirements for cases of COVID-19. The use of enforcement discretion does not apply to corrections, emergency services, healthcare, and law enforcement employers.
The EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) has issued two documents intended to assist managers in the Agency’s 10 regional offices on deciding if site cleanup and emergency response should begin or continue in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) expanded guidance regarding shortages of N95 filtering facepiece respirators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OSHA instructed field offices to exercise discretion when enforcing annual fit-testing requirements, as long as employers have made good-faith efforts to comply with requirements of the respiratory protection standard.
Itasca, IL – National Safety Council President & CEO Lorraine Martin today issued the following call to business leaders across the country to take aggressive action to ensure employee safety from COVID-19. In a survey conducted this week, over 70% of NSC member companies indicated they have employees still reporting to work, unable to work remotely. Many […]
The temporary policy the EPA issued March 26, 2020, to explain noncompliance situations in which the Agency will exercise enforcement discretion during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a rush of letters from Democratic members of Congress who were concerned that the Agency intended to allow major sources of air pollution to violate their regulatory limits. Enforcement […]
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has issued additional employer guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cal/OSHA released interim guidelines for long-term care and skilled nursing facilities and agricultural employers.