Cal/OSHA board will consider rule on protections for employees exposed to virus

Cal/OSHA board will consider rule on protections for employees exposed to virus

Cal/OSHA's standards board will consider a recommendation for an emergency rule that would give certain protections to employees who may be exposed to COVID-19 at work, but aren't entitled to protections already enjoyed by workers at health care facilities, prisons, homeless shelters, laboratories, and repair facilities.

The standards board will review the recommendation at its Sept. 17 meeting.

Employers with workers protected by Cal/OSHA's Aerosol Transmissible Diseases standard, which the agency adopted in 2009, are required to provide their employees with written safety plans and personal protective equipment. They are also required to train employees on safety procedures.

The 2009 standard was introduced to protect employees who work in settings where they are at higher risk of contracting certain airborne infections, but the pandemic has introduced this risk to a wider range of workers.

In May, Worksafe and a committee in the National Lawyers' Guild filed a petition to the standards board requesting a temporary, emergency standard that would extend certain protections to employees in industries not already covered by the 2009 standard. The petition also asked for a permanent standard to protect workers from infectious diseases, including novel pathogens like COVID-19.

The petition was reviewed by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which approved both parts of the petition, and by the staff of the standards board, which recommended against issuing new regulations. On Wednesday, the standards board released a proposed recommendation granting the first part of the petition, and asked the two bodies to submit a proposal for an emergency standard.

If the board adopts the emergency standard, the division and board staff will create a committee to review emergency COVID-19 rulemaking efforts by the board.

-- Jessica Mach