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You Have 3 Options: TAG’s Take on OSHA Worker Protection Guidance

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You Have 3 Options: TAG’s Take on OSHA Worker Protection Guidance

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Recommendations for Industry

You Have 3 Options: TAG’s Take on OSHA Worker Protection Guidance

A new COVID-19 worker protection publication, issued by OSHA yesterday (June 10) provides new guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace. In the appendix to the guidance, OSHA calls out Measures Appropriate for Higher-Risk Workplaces with Mixed-Vaccination Status Workers, which applies to all higher-risk workplaces, specified as including “manufacturing, meat and poultry processing, high-volume retail and grocery, and seafood processing” where there are any unvaccinated or otherwise at-risk workers.

Essentially, the guidance calls for businesses to differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. OSHA has issued the publication as guidance, and the measures are not technically requirements. However, TAG sees a lack of implementation as putting a business at risk of legal liability, should an outbreak or work-related transmission occur in a facility.

To break this down further – it’s unlikely that any business will have 100% of its workers vaccinated. Therefore, if a business follow the new OSHA guidance, TAG sees three options:

  1. Maintain all COVID-19 worker protections for all unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, and fully vaccinated employees in all facilities (i.e., masks, distancing, structural barriers, etc.)
  2. Require verification of vaccination status. Any worker without proof of full vaccination must continue masking, distancing, et.
  3. Mandate vaccines for all workers. Essentially this would require that a condition of employment be vaccination verification.

While maintaining these measures in the workplace may seem inconsistent with states lifting mandates, and people able to eat out, gather in bars, attend concerts and sporting events, etc., it does track with CDC guidance for those who are unvaccinated. Additionally, because of the amount of time spent at work, often in close quarters, there is an underlying rationale to maintaining tighter controls to protect unvaccinated workers.

TAG also sees some benefit to maintaining protections as there is some projection that cases could increase again in the fall and it may be easier to maintain to the requirements than to try to reinstitute them. Additionally, studies have shown that COVID-19 protections significantly reduced the 2020 rates of influenza, so companies can be further protecting business operations by reducing absences caused by other communicable respiratory illnesses.  There is the distinct liability risk if a business fails to follow the OSHA guidance, and then has a COVID-19 outbreak or work-related transmission traced back to its facility.  Furthermore, in this guidance, OSHA reiterates the need to report cases of work-related infection to the agency

With TAG’s expertise in public health and communicable diseases, we are continuing to assist businesses COVID-19 and other workplace-transmissible disease protections. Give us a call for assistance with yours!

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