DOL Issues 'Stronger' Workplace Guidance on Coronavirus

Monday, February 1, 2021 | 0

The U.S. Department of Labor on Friday said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued what it calls “stronger worker safety guidance” to help employers and workers implement coronavirus protection programs.

The agency said the OSHA guidance will help identify risks that could expose workers to the virus that causes COVID-19. OSHA issued the recommendations to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.

“The guidance details key measures for limiting coronavirus’s spread, including ensuring infected or potentially infected people are not in the workplace, implementing and following physical distancing protocols and using surgical masks or cloth face coverings,” the Department of Labor said in a statement. “It also provides guidance on use of personal protective equipment, improving ventilation, good hygiene and routine cleaning.”

OSHA recommended the following essential elements for a prevention program:

• Conduct a hazard assessment.
• Identify control measures to limit the spread of the virus.
• Adopt policies for employee absences that don’t punish workers and encourage potentially infected workers to remain home.
• Ensure that coronavirus policies and procedures are communicated to both English- and non-English-speaking workers.
• Implement protections from retaliation for workers who raise coronavirus safety concerns.

The recommendations are not part of a standard or regulation and don’t create new legal obligations, the Labor Department said.

“The recommendations are advisory in nature, informational in content and are intended to assist employers in recognizing and abating hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm as part of their obligation to provide a safe and healthful workplace,” the agency’s statement reads.

More information is here.