On June 8, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued an Order with definitions for “close contact” and “infectious period” that conflict and abrogate the definitions for these terms within the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) current COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). Employers must comply with the new CDPH definitions, even where they differ from the text of the California ETS or federal Centers for Disease Control guidance.
The revised CDPH guidance greatly expands the definition of close contact and eliminate the six feet rule that has been the governing standard through most of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many more employees may qualify as close contacts if persons who later test positive for COVID-19 are present in the workplace.
The ETS, effective since May 6, 2022, initially included the six feet rule in its definition of “close contact”:
[B]eing within six feet of a COVID-19 case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or greater in any 24-hour period within or overlapping with the infectious period defined by this section, regardless of the use of face coverings, unless close contact is defined by regulation or order of the CDPH. If so, the CDPH definition shall apply.
Title 8 California Code of Regulations § 3205(b)(1) (emphasis added). This matches the federal CDC definition, which also includes the six feet rule. The ETS also provided an exception to this definition for...
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