The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidance today focused on reducing employees’ COVID-19 exposure risk in U.S. workplaces. During his first week in office, President Biden directed the agency to release guidance to help employers keep healthy employees on the job and those with symptoms or exposure risk at home until it is safe for them to return to work.

Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace outlines applicable health and safety standards and contains advisory recommendations for prevention programs. The guidance is not an enforceable standard or regulation. Guidance includes taking steps to ensure infected or potentially infected people are not in the workplace, using physical distancing and personal protective equipment, improving ventilation, practicing good hygiene and performing routine cleaning.

Recommendations for employers include:

• Conduct a hazard assessment.
• Identify control measures to limit spread of the virus.
• Adopt policies for employee absences to encourage potentially infected workers to remain home.
• Ensure that coronavirus policies and procedures are communicated to both English and non-English speaking employees.
• Implement protections from retaliation for workers who raise coronavirus-related concerns.

Officials said OSHA will update its guidance as developments in science, best practices and standards warrant.

Here is a link to the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness released by the Biden Administration.

Did You Know?

WorkCare’s occupational physicians and allied subject matter experts assist employers with the development of COVID-19 prevention plans that are customized for their industry, exposure risks and workplace environments. WorkCare offers a suite of COVID-19 prevention and management solutions, including automated daily symptom screening, risk assessment based on symptoms or suspected close contact with an infected person, diagnostic testing and return-work clearances. We are also developing vaccine distribution and administration plans. To learn more, send an email message to info@workcare.com to request a consultation. Don’t miss our weekly webinar on Preventing and Managing COVID-19 in the Workplace! Click here to register.