OR OSHA’s Temporary Standard
We recently notified you about Oregon Occupational Health & Safety Administration’s new COVID-19 standards, which apply to all Oregon employers. Some of the requirements are already in effect, and some will soon become effective.
The deadlines for these requirements are quickly approaching:
Training: No later than December 21st, employers must provide workers with information and training about COVID-19, as specified in the OR OSHA standard.
Ventilation: No later than January 6, 2021, employers must optimize the amount of outside air circulated through their existing HVAC systems whenever employees are present, maintain HVAC air filters in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions and design specifications, and clean and maintain intake ports for HVAC systems per the manufacturers’ instructions and design specifications.
The deadlines for compliance with the following requirements have already passed:
Physical Distancing: Employers are required to ensure that the workplace is “designed to eliminate the need for any worker to be within 6 feet of another individual in order to fulfill their job duties unless the employer determines and can demonstrate that such physical distancing is not feasible for certain activities.”
Face Coverings: Employers must provide face coverings to all employees at no cost to the workers, though they may allow employees to use their own face coverings. Employers must also ensure that all individuals (not just employees) wear face coverings in a number of specified circumstances, including any time that six feet of physical distancing “cannot be consistently assured.”
Cleaning and Sanitation: Employers must clean or sanitize all common areas, shared equipment, and high-touch surfaces within 24 hours of use/occupancy by any individual and provide employees with the supplies and time needed to “sanitize more frequently” and “perform hand hygiene.” Additional cleaning is necessary for areas used by a person known to be infected with COVID-19. Employers who operate or otherwise control buildings where the employees of other employers work must ensure that these cleaning and sanitation requirements are met in common areas.
Poster: Employers must post the new “COVID-19 Hazards Poster” in all specified locations and distribute copies to remote workers. This poster is in addition to the current “Face Coverings Required” sign issued by the Oregon Health Authority.
Employers who operate or otherwise control buildings where the employees of other employers work must post signs in areas where face coverings are required.
Notification of COVID-19 Infection: Every employer is required to have a process to notify employees of work-related contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 within 48 hours of the employer learning of the positive test.
Exposure Risk Assessment: Employers must conduct an exposure risk assessment as described in the Temporary Standard. Those with more than 10 employees in the state have to document their assessment in writing.
Infection Control Plan: Employers must establish and implement an infection control plan that implements the controls identified in the risk assessment and a number of other items identified in the OSHA standard. Those with more than 10 employees in the state must have a written plan.
Testing: Each employer must make its employees and appropriate space available when a local public health agency or the Oregon Health Authority indicates that COVID-19 testing within its workplace is necessary.
Medical Removal: When the Oregon Health Authority, local public health agency or medical provider recommends that an employee be restricted from work due to quarantine or isolation, the employer must direct that employee to follow the applicable restrictions. The employer must allow the affected employee to work at home if possible and once the restricted period is over, the employee must be permitted to return to their previous job duties if still available.
See OR OSHA’s website for more detailed information about these requirements, special requirements for specified industries and “workplaces at exceptional risk,” templates for required forms, and the new poster.
California Emergency Temporary Standards
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has also issued emergency temporary standards relating to COVID-19. These requirements, which took effect November 30th, apply to every employee in the state except (a) when there is only one employee who does not have contact with other people, (b) the employee is working from home, or (c) the employee is covered by California’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases regulation.
Employers must create a written program covering the following:
· Communication to employees about the employer’s COVID-19 prevention procedures
· Identification, evaluation, and correction of COVID-19 hazards
· Physical distancing of at least six feet unless it is not possible
· Use of face coverings
· Use of engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment as required to reduce transmission risk
· Procedures to investigate and respond to COVID-19 cases in the workplace
· Provision of COVID-19 training to employees
· Provision of testing to employees who are exposed to a COVID-19 case, and in the case of multiple infections or a major outbreak, implement regular workplace testing for employees in the exposed work areas
· Exclusion of COVID-19 cases and exposed employees from the workplace until they are no longer an infection risk
· Maintenance of records of COVID-19 cases and reporting of serious illnesses and multiple cases to Cal/OSHA and the local health department, as required
Washington State Resources
While Washington OSHA has not issued a similar temporary standard, it does provide a number of resources for employers and employees.
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Whether you are an employer looking for information on how to comply with the myriad new rules relating to COVID-19 or an employee worried about worker safety, please feel free to contact us with any questions about the above or information about the requirements in your state.
