The Department of Labor announced on Jan. 29 that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued stronger worker safety guidance in an effort to help employers better identify risks that could lead to transmission of COVID-19.
“Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace” provides updated guidance and recommendations.
“It’s encouraging to see a heightened commitment to protecting workers across all industries,” said ASSP President Deborah Roy. “It’s critical that we create environments in which businesses can operate safely during this challenging time. Stronger federal guidance brings us closer to the end of this devastating pandemic.”
The National Safety Council (NSC) also expressed its support for the new guidance noting that “for nearly a year, NSC has been urging the federal government to provide employers with a road map for handling the pandemic. We are grateful to see this support come through, and we are reassured it will be updated as developments in science, best practices and standards warrant.”
NSC created SAFER: Safe Actions for Employee Returns last April and has been offering businesses much-needed guidance, tools and solutions to help them navigate the many safety risks that arose as a result of the pandemic including a COVID-19 Organizational Vulnerability Assessment tool and a vaccine strategy framework.
OSHA stressed that a coronavirus protection program is the most effective way for employers to reduce the spread of the virus. The guidance includes essential elements such as conducting a hazard assessment, identifying control measures to limit the spread of the virus, adopting policies for employee absences that don’t punish workers for staying home and implementing protections from retaliation for workers who raise concerns.
