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A dental hygienist and dental assistant have won $15,706 in back wages to be paid by the North Texas dentists who fired them for raising concerns about COVID-19 safety measures in spring 2020 following a federal whistleblower investigation conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and litigation filed by the Department of Labor […]
California’s nonemergency COVID-19 prevention regulations (California Code of Regulations Title 8 sections 3205 through 3205.3) took effect February 3 following approval by the state’s Office of Administrative Law. The new regulations, which take the place of the state’s emergency temporary standards (ETSs), remain in effect through February 3, 2025, and recordkeeping provisions of the rules […]
The rate of fatal workplace injuries increased in 2021 from the rate in 2020 and the pre-pandemic rate in 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported December 16. There were 5,190 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2021, according to the bureau’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI)—an 8.9% increase from 4,764 […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will proceed with three rulemakings focused on the healthcare industry—standards for COVID-19, infectious diseases, and workplace violence—the Department of Labor (DOL) announced as part of the fall 2022 unified regulatory agenda unveiled January 4. The agency also is moving forward with developing a federal heat illness prevention standard, […]
Protective service occupations (public safety) had the highest rate of deaths from COVID-19 at 60 deaths per 100,000 workers, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Vital Statistics. The industry with the highest death rate was accommodation and food services, with 55 deaths per 100,000 workers. […]
On December 15, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board adopted nonemergency COVID-19 prevention regulations. The state’s COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETSs) remain in effect while the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) reviews the nonemergency regulations. The OAL has 30 days to conduct its review, but once approved, the nonemergency rules remain in […]
Recent research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health revealed the six occupations with the highest levels of COVID-19 infections during the first months of the pandemic: massage therapist, food-processing worker, bailiff or correctional officer, funeral service worker, firstline supervisor of production and operating workers, and nursing assistant or psychiatric aide. The five […]
With California’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) set to expire at the end of the year, the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is considering a “nonemergency” regulation. The standards board meets at 10 a.m. on December 15 but has no public hearing items on its agenda. The rule’s requirements for employer safeguards would […]
Existing building standards do not include ventilation and filtration targets strong enough to protect against respiratory disease infections like COVID-19, according to a new report from the Lancet COVID-19 Commission’s Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and Safe Travel. The group, which includes a former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), […]
In our latest installment of Ask the Expert, brought to you by the team of industry experts at EHS Hero®, we look at a recent question from a subscriber asking about COVID-19 reporting requirements. See what the experts had to say. Q: Were there COVID-19 reporting requirements prior to 2021? There were no federal COVID-19 reporting […]