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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently released a tool for predicting N95 respirator needs in non-healthcare workplaces. In research published in the journal Health Security, NIOSH researchers unveiled a spreadsheet-based tool for estimating the number of N95 respirators needed to protect essential non-healthcare workers. The tool is available in the article’s […]
Four JBS Foods USA subsidiaries and affiliates reached an agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to settle COVID-19 citations at two JBS facilities. The four JBS units agreed to assemble a team of company and third-party experts to develop and implement an infectious disease preparedness plan for seven of its meat processing […]
Challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 emergency temporary standards (ETS) and employer noncompliance with reporting requirements hampered the agency’s pandemic response, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in a May 25 Congressional testimony. In a written testimony submitted to the House Committee on Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, […]
A House committee examining issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic alleged that meatpacking companies enlisted the help of political appointees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to weaken worker safety and health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). On May 12, the […]
On May 7, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued new employer guidance on the state’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS). On April 21, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board renewed the ETS a third time. The revised ETS is effective May 6 through December 31, and it applies to employers […]
The issues surrounding workplace violence have posed major challenges for safety leaders for decades, but adding COVID-19 into the mix has made navigating these issues even more complicated. At the EHS Daily Advisor Exchange in Arizona earlier this month, Hector Alvarez, president of Alvarez Associates, held a workshop that explained how to better understand workplace […]
In April, the American Hospital Association (AHA) urged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) not to establish a permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard based on the agency’s June 21, 2021, emergency temporary standard (ETS). The AHA voiced its opposition to establishing a permanent standard not aligned with evolving evidence-based guidance from the Centers for Disease […]
In its attempts to protect workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) failed to collaborate or coordinate efforts with other federal agencies, the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) concluded in a new report. The OIG pointed out the number of OSHA compliance safety and health officers […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has scheduled an April 27 public hearing on establishing a permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard. The agency is seeking input on changes to its June 21, 2021, emergency temporary standard (ETS). All but the recordkeeping provisions of the ETS was withdrawn on December 27. The agency does not plan […]
National COVID-19 occupational safety and health guidelines that include providing face coverings or personal protective equipment (PPE) and instituting face covering policies were associated with lowered COVID-19 risk, according to a new study. Brigham Young University researchers looked at how closely COVID-19 occupational safety and health guidelines in 36 countries conformed to recommendations from the […]