| As you may remember, on June 21, 2021, OSHA issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) with the goal to protect workers in healthcare settings from occupational exposure to COVID-19. Since then, all but the recordkeeping and reporting requirements, expired on December 27, 2021.
At this time, OSHA is requesting stakeholder comments on changes to the ETS. As per the Federal Register issued on March 23, 2022, potential changes from the ETS include:
- Alignment with CDC recommendations for healthcare infection control practices
- OSHA is considering whether it is appropriate to align its final rule with some or all the current CDC recommendations
- Additional flexibility for employers
- OSHA is considering restating various provisions as broader requirements without the level of detail included in the Healthcare ETS and providing a “safe harbor” enforcement policy for employers.
- Removal of scope exemptions (e.g., ambulatory care facilities where covid-19 patients are screened out; home healthcare)
- OSHA is considering whether the scope of the final standard should cover employers regardless of screening procedures for non-employees and/or vaccination status of employees.
- Tailoring controls to address interactions with people with suspected or confirmed covid-19
- OSHA is considering the need for COVID-19-specific infection control measures in areas where healthcare employees are not expected to encounter people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
- Booster doses, employer support of employee vaccination, and requirements for vaccinated workers; although OSHA is not considering at this time requiring mandatory vaccination for employees
- OSHA is considering an adjustment to the requirement that would include paid time up to 4 hours, including travel time, for employees to receive a vaccine and paid sick leave to recover from side effects.
- OSHA is considering whether to limit the provisions that provide support for vaccination to employees not covered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccination rule.
- OSHA is considering suggestions that requirements be relaxed: for masking, barriers, or physical distancing for vaccinated workers in all areas of healthcare settings, not just where there is no reasonable expectation that someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 will be present.
- Limited coverage of construction activities in healthcare settings
- OSHA is considering the same coverage for workers engaged in construction work inside a hospital.
- New cap for covid-19 log retention period
- OSHA proposes to cap the record retention period for the COVID-19 log at one year from the date of the last entry in the log.
- Triggering requirements based on the level of community transmission
- OSHA is considering linking regulatory requirements to measures of local risk, such as CDC’s community transmission used in CDC’s guidance for healthcare settings.
- Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 into a Second Novel Strain
- OSHA is considering specifying that this final standard would apply not only to COVID-19, but also to subsequent related strains of the virus that are transmitted through aerosols and pose similar risks and health effects.
Source: NAHC Report March 23, 2022
Public comments are due April 22, 2022. A virtual public hearing will begin on April 27, 2022 and may continue on subsequent days, if necessary.
Individuals interested in testifying at the hearing must submit their notice of intention to appear by April 6, 2022. Before the hearing, OSHA will make the hearing procedures and hearing schedule available on this webpage. |
