On January 21, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order declaring that ensuring the health and safety of workers is a national priority and a moral imperative. The order directed the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) to take steps to reduce the risk of workers in the workplace becoming infected with COVID-19. The agency found that the existing standards and regulations as well as the general mandatory clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act were insufficient to deal with the COVID-19 risk for health care workers. In addition, a federal standard was required to provide adequate protection for health workers in all states. On June 10, 2021, OSHA issued a Temporary Emergency Standard (ETS) to address this industry.
The ETS aims to protect workers at the highest COVID-19 threats – those who work in healthcare facilities that treat suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. This includes employees in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities; Emergency responders; Home nursing staff; and employees in outpatient care facilities that treat suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. The ETS exempts fully vaccinated workers from masking, distancing and barrier requirements when in well-defined areas where there is no reasonable expectation that a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 will be.
The ETS comes into effect immediately after it is published in the Federal Register. Employers must comply with most regulations within 14 days (through June 24) and regulations regarding physical barriers, ventilation and training within 30 days (through July 11). OSHA will use its discretion on employers who make good faith efforts to comply with the ETS. OSHA will continue to monitor trends in COVID-19 infections and deaths as more workers and the general population are vaccinated and the pandemic continues to evolve.
How to protect workers from COVID-19
The main section of the ETS (1910.502 – Healthcare) requires employers to develop and implement effective COVID-19 plans. Controlling COVID-19 requires employers to apply multiple overlapping controls in a layered approach to better protect workers. The most important requirements of the ETS are:
COVID-19 plan: Develop and implement a COVID-19 plan (in writing for more than 10 employees), which includes a designated safety coordinator with the authority to ensure compliance, a workplace-specific risk assessment, the involvement of non-managerial employees in the risk assessment and the development / implementation of the plan and policies and procedures to minimize the risk of COVID-19 being transmitted to employees.
Patient screening and management: Limit and monitor access points to facilities that provide direct patient care; Screening and triage of patients, clients and other visitors and non-employees; Implement patient management strategies.
Standard and broadcast based: Develop and implement policies and procedures to comply with standards and broadcast-based precautions based on CDC guidelines.
Personal protective equipment (PPE): Ensure that every employee indoors and when occupying a vehicle with other people for work purposes wears and wears a face mask; Provide and ensure that employees use respiratory protective equipment and other PPE for exposure to anyone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and for aerosol generating processes on a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
Aerosol Generating Techniques in a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19: Limit the employees present to the essentials; Conduct procedures in an airborne infection isolation room, if available; and clean and disinfect surfaces and equipment after the procedure is complete.
Physical distancing: Keep people at least 6 feet apart indoors.
Physical barriers: Install cleanable or disposable solid barriers at any permanent workstation in non-patient care areas where staff are not at least six feet from other people.
Cleaning and desinfection: Follow standard procedures for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and equipment as per CDC guidelines in patient care areas, residents’ rooms, and for medical equipment and appliances; In all other areas, clean touch-sensitive surfaces and devices at least once a day and use alcohol-based hand disinfectants with at least 60% alcohol or provide easily accessible hand washing facilities.
Ventilation: Ensure that any employer-owned or controlled existing HVAC systems are used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and design specifications for the systems, and that air filters have a Minimum Efficiency Report Value (MERV) of 13 or greater if the system allows it.
Health screening and medical management: (1) Check employees before each work day and shift; (2) require every employee to notify the employer immediately if the employee is COVID-19 positive, suspects COVID-19 or shows certain symptoms; (3) notify certain employees within 24 hours if a person who has been at work is COVID-19 positive; (4) Follow requirements for employee removal from the workplace; (5) Employers with more than 10 employees grant employees who have to go into isolation or quarantine services of medical removal protection according to the standard.
Vaccination: Allow adequate time and paid vacation for vaccinations and vaccine side effects.
Training: Make sure all employees are trained to understand the transmission of COVID-19, tasks and situations in the workplace that could lead to infection, and relevant policies and procedures.
Anti-retaliation: Inform employees of their rights to the protection required by the standard and do not dismiss or discriminate against employees for exercising their rights under the ETS or for taking measures required by the standard.
Records: Create a COVID-19 log (if there are more than 10 employees) of all cases of COVID-19 in employees without taking occupational exposure into account and follow the requirements for providing records for employees / representatives.
Note that these requirements must be implemented free of charge for employees.
What effects does the ETS have on state or local government mandates or guidelines?
Twenty-eight states have their own OSHA-approved plans. When federal OSHA announces an ETS, states and US territories must either change their standards to be identical or “at least as effective” as the new standards with their own OSHA-approved state plans, or prove that the existing state standard for this area is “at least as effective” as the new federal standard. State plans must complete acceptance of the ETS within 30 days of the date the final federal rule is promulgated, and state plans must notify state OSHA of the action they will take within 15 days. The state plan standard must remain in force for the duration of the federal ETS.
State or local government mandates or guidelines (e.g. legislative measures, implementing ordinances, ordinances of the Ministry of Health) that go beyond the ETS and do not conflict with it should not be restricted by this ETS. OSHA recognizes that many states have taken action with mandatory requirements for general industry and that states have additional powers that OSHA does not (e.g., criminal sanctions). OSHA does not intend to pre-empt these powers or requirements. For example, OSHA does not intend to anticipate state or local COVID-19 testing requirements, or state or local requirements for customers to wear face covers when entering a hospital or other healthcare facility, or in public places in general.
source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/federal-osha-issues-emergency-temporary-standards-for-healthcare-industry/
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