The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is poised to implement a permanent COVID-19 safety standard for health care employers, nearly three years after the pandemic first began in the United States.
OSHA did not issue any COVID-specific regulations for employers in the health care industry until its June 19, 2021, emergency temporary standard (ETS). Because the ETS was temporary in nature it expired after six months. The only component of the ETS remaining in effect is the recordkeeping requirement, which requires employers to establish and maintain a COVID-19 log to record COVID-19 cases in their workplace. OSHA subsequently announced in March 2022 its intention to engage in permanent rulemaking and is now in the final stages of that process. Although the text of the rule is not public, the permanent rule is anticipated to mirror the ETS in some ways and change to reflect the dynamic nature of the COVID-19 pandemic in other ways.
During the notice and comment period of its permanent rulemaking, OSHA has been soliciting feedback from the regulated community. Based on public comments and its press releases, OSHA seems likely to enact a permanent standard with some deviations from the ETS based on the evolving nature of the COVID-19 virus and the guidance about preventing its spread. Put simply, both the virus itself and recommended mitigation strategies have changed since the ETS, so OSHA's rule will likely reflect those changes. Potential changes are...
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