OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard

What Does the Emergency Temporary Standard Require?

Key requirements of the ETS include:

COVID-19 Plan. Conduct a hazard assessment and develop and implement a COVID-19 plan for each workplace. Engage employees in the development of the plan.

Our COVID-19 plan meets the requirements of what the ETS requires. We developed our COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan which details the information, guidance, and directives that organizations need to increase pandemic readiness and response, as well as to meet OSHA and other regulatory obligations. The 106-page guide is divided into three sections: Reference Materials, Protocols, and Resources and together, our plan provides you with the knowledge, tools, and information needed to prepare your own detailed plan to implement in your workplace.You can find more information about our COVID-19 plan here, as well as get the plan free with your order of any OSHA, Cal/OSHA, or WISHA product!

See below for an overview of what the ETS requires your plan to contain.

Patient screening and management. Limit and monitor points of entry to settings where direct patient care is provided. Screen and triage patients, clients, residents, delivery people and other visitors and nonemployees entering the setting for symptoms of COVID-19. Implement patient management strategies.

Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions. Develop and implement policies and procedures to adhere to Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions in accordance with CDC guidelines.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

• - Provide and ensure employees wear facemasks when indoors and when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes. Ensure facemasks are worn over the nose and mouth.

• - Provide and ensure employees wear respirators and other PPE for exposure to people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and for aerosol-generating procedures on a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

• - Provide respirators and other PPE in accordance with CDC’s Standard and Transmission Based Precautions.

• - Allow voluntary use of respirators instead of facemasks. See description of the mini respiratory protection program below.

Aerosol-generating procedures on persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Consistent with CDC guidelines, for aerosol-generating procedures on persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, limit employees present to only those who are essential, perform procedures in an airborne infection isolation room (AIIR), if available, and clean and disinfect surfaces and equipment.

Physical distancing. Keep employees at least 6 feet apart from all other people when indoors except when impossible, such as when delivering medical care.

Physical barriers. At each fixed work location outside of direct patient care areas (e.g., entryway/lobby, check-in desks, triage, hospital pharmacy windows, bill payment) where each employee is not separated from all other people by at least 6 feet of distance, the employer must install cleanable or disposable solid barriers, except where the employer can demonstrate it is not feasible.

Cleaning and disinfection. Follow standard practices for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and equipment in accordance with CDC guidelines in patient care areas, resident rooms, and for medical devices and equipment. In all other areas, clean high-touch surfaces and equipment at least once a day. Provide alcohol-based hand rub that is at least 60% alcohol or provide readily accessible handwashing facilities.

Ventilation. Employers who own or control buildings or structures with existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems must ensure that:

• - The HVAC systems are used in accordance with the HVAC manufacturer’s instructions and the design specifications of the HVAC systems;

• - The amount of outside air circulated through its HVAC systems and the number of air changes per hour are maximized to the extent appropriate;

• - All air filters are rated Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 13 or higher, if compatible with the HVAC systems. If MERV-13 or higher filters are not compatible with the HVAC systems, employers must use filters with the highest compatible filtering efficiency for the HVAC systems;

• - All air filters are maintained and replaced as necessary to ensure the proper function and performance of the HVAC systems; and

• - All intake ports that provide outside air to the HVAC systems are cleaned, maintained, and cleared of any debris that may affect the function and performance of the HVAC system.

Where the employer has an existing airborne infection isolation room (AIIR), the employer must maintain and operate it in accordance with its design and construction criteria. OSHA clarifies that this section does not require installation of new HVAC systems or AIIRs to replace or augment functioning systems.

Health screening and medical management. Employers are required to:

• - Screen employees before each work day and shift, such as by asking them to self-monitor;

• - Provide testing, when employer-required, at no cost to the employee;

• - Require each employee to promptly notify the employer when the employee is COVID-19 positive, suspected of having COVID-19, or experiencing certain symptoms;

• - Notify, within 24 hours, certain employees if a person who has been in the workplace is COVID-19 positive;

• - Follow requirements to remove employees who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19, certain COVID-19 symptoms, or have had close contact to a person who is COVID-19 positive in the workplace. This includes making decisions on returning employees to work in accordance with guidance from a licensed health care provider or specified CDC guidance;

• - Continue to pay employees removed from the workplace in most circumstances.

Vaccination. Provide reasonable time and paid leave for vaccinations and vaccine side effects.

Training. Ensure each employee receives training in a language and at a literacy level the employee understands so that the employee comprehends disease transmission, tasks and situations in the workplace that could result in COVID-19 infection, and relevant policies and procedures. Ensure each employee receives additional training when changes occur that affect the employee’s risk of infection, if policies or procedures are changed, or when there is an indication that an employee has not retained necessary understanding or skill.

Anti-Retaliation. Inform employees of their rights to the protections required by the ETS and do not discharge or in any manner discriminate against employees for exercising these rights or for engaging in actions required by the standard.

Recordkeeping. For employers with more than 10 employees, establish a COVID-19 log of all employee cases of COVID-19 without regard to occupational exposure and follow requirements to make records available to employees.

Reporting of COVID-19 fatalities and hospitalizations. Report to OSHA each work-related COVID-19 fatality within eight hours of learning of the fatality and each work-related COVID-19 in-patient hospitalizations within 24 hours.