Image by learning art from Pixabay
(Unless, of course, you need “The PERFECT Home Arm Workout (Sets and Reps Included),” which you can find here. Sun’s out. Guns out!)
While the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has spent the last few weeks churning out information to assist employers in complying with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration hasn’t exactly been resting on its laurels.
Boo-yah!
- Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 (Spanish).
- Temporary Enforcement Guidance – Healthcare Respiratory Protection Annual Fit-Testing for N95 Filtering Facepieces During the COVID-19 Outbreak.
- Enforcement Guidance for Respiratory Protection and the N95 Shortage Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.
- Enforcement Guidance for Use of Respiratory Protection Equipment Certified under Standards of Other Countries During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.
- Expanded Temporary Enforcement Guidance on Respiratory Protection Fit-Testing for N95 Filtering Facepieces in All Industries During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.
- Prevent Worker Exposure to Coronavirus (COVID-19)(Spanish).
- Worker Exposure Risk to COVID-19 (Spanish).
Let’s break it down:
Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19
OSHA developed this COVID-19 guidance to assist employers in implementing engineering, administrative, and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as considerations for doing so. Initially designed for planning purposes, this publication helps employers to identify risk levels in workplace settings and to determine any appropriate control measures to implement. If you are an essential business, this is good reference material.
These posters (this one and this one) also help you with general guidance on preventing the transmission of COVID-19 at work, while also distinguishing between low- and high-risk job tasks.
And here are ten steps that all workplaces can take to reduce the risk of exposure to coronavirus
Plus, there is this resource that highlights OSHA standards and directives (instructions for compliance officers) and other related information that may apply to worker exposure to COVID-19.
Everything you need to know so far about N-95 masks
This guidance has evolved.
On March 14, OSHA issued enforcement guidance to Compliance Safety and Health Officers for enforcing the Respiratory Protection standard concerning supply shortages of N95 filtering facepiece respirators due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Then, on April 3, OSHA followed that up with this additional guidance on enforcing OSHA’s respirator standard for all workers, including healthcare professionals.
But the latest guidance came yesterday and clarified that the prior advice that was focused on healthcare providers now applies to all workplaces covered by OSHA where there is required use of respirators. What I took away from the April 8 memo is that, if employers do their best to comply with OSHA respirator rules, OSHA won’t crack the whip if they come up short.
NJ/PA Employers – See you in a few hours
Hop on Zoom at 2 PM EDT today, when Amy Vazquez, Director, Legal Content at Employers Association of NJ, and I breakdown all the recent COVID-19 workplace guidance from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including seven new executive orders from NJ in just the past two days alone.
Click here to join us. And if you have a question, ask away!