"Guide To Covid-19 Workplace Safety Regulation In Four State-Plan States"

• Published date: 27 April 2021
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Health & Safety, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations, Employment and Workforce Wellbeing, Operational Impacts and Strategy
• Law Firm: Jenner & Block
• Author: Ms Gabrielle Sigel

US OSHA currently has several well-established regulations that apply to aspects of workplace protection that also apply to certain workplaces operating during the pandemic. For example, OSHA's PPE and respiratory standards would apply particularly to work in hospitals and those in direct contact with people or bodies known to be infected by COVID-19. See, e.g., 29 CFR 1910.132, 1910.133, 1910.134. OSHA's illness recordkeeping standard applies to workplaces otherwise required to do that recordkeeping (29 CFR 1904.2(a)), and all workplaces are required to report to OSHA work-related cases that result in hospitalization or death within 24 hours of a workplace exposure (see fn 9). The General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, 29 USC 654(a)(1), requires each employer to furnish to each worker "employment and a place of employment which...