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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has extended the comment period for its November 5 COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS). Written comments on any aspect of the ETS, which had been due December 6, now must be submitted by January 19, 2022, to the rulemaking Docket No. OSHA-2021-0007 at www.regulations.gov. OSHA […]
Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) November 23 asked a federal appeals court to lift judicial restrictions on an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to implement a program of COVID-19 vaccination or regular testing and face coverings to protect unvaccinated workers. […]
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) will meet November 19 to consider readoption of a revised COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS). The board approved an initial ETS in November 2020. Under California administrative law, emergency standards remain in effect for 180 days. The board may twice readopt temporary standards for an additional […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency rule was indefinitely stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans on November 12. After issuing an initial stay on November 6, the three-judge panel reaffirmed its stay, instructing OSHA and the Department of Labor to take […]
How is it that President Joe Biden can order the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish an emergency rule that requires employers to vaccinate all their employees or test them for COVID-19? Is this normal? How does OSHA even have that kind of authority? Like much since the COVID-19 pandemic was first declared […]
An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) went into effect in early June 2021, and compliance with most of the provisions was required by July 6. The final set of provisions (pertaining to training, ventilation, and barriers) wasn’t mandated until July 21. With some exceptions, the ETS applies to all […]
On July 27, AIHA (formerly the American Industrial Hygiene Association) revealed concerns about the federal COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) in a 13-page letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). AIHA urged the agency to closely examine and immediately revise the emergency rule’s provisions dealing with ventilation, physical barriers, and transmission by inhalation […]
On June 28, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an enforcement directive for its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS), which only applies to healthcare and healthcare support services employers. The directive includes exemptions from inspection and enforcement under the ETS for a number of tasks and facilities, such as: Provision of first aid […]
As reported in last week’s update, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board recently adopted the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) regulation. On the same day as Cal/OSHA’s update, California Governor Gavin Newsom also signed Executive Order (EO) N-09-21, bypassing the standard 10-day approval period and allowing […]
Except when required during outbreaks, California workers no longer need to wear face coverings outside, and fully vaccinated workers do not need to wear them indoors. However, workers are explicitly allowed to wear a face covering without fear of retaliation from employers. California workplaces have new emergency temporary standards (ETSs) for exposures to COVID-19. The […]