In response to an executive order issued on January 21, 2021 by President Biden, OSHA submitted an emergency temporary standard regarding employee protections against COVID-19. That standard is now in effect, meaning all employers whose employees provide healthcare services or healthcare support services, must comply with the new 29 CFR 1910 Subpart U — COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard. Examples of that work environment includes skilled nursing homes and home healthcare. There are some exemptions to the standard; first aid provisions conducted by an employee who is not a licensed healthcare provider; dispensing of prescriptions by pharmacists in retail settings; non-hospital ambulatory care settings where all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter those settings; well-defined hospital ambulatory care settings where all employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter those settings; home healthcare settings where all employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not present; healthcare support services not performed in a healthcare setting (e.g., off-site laundry, off-site medical billing); telehealth services performed outside of a setting where direct patient care occurs.

With the publication of the standard came new guidelines or recommendations, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 for all other businesses. The CDC's Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People explain that under most circumstances, fully vaccinated people need not take all the precautions that unvaccinated people should take. For example, CDC advises that most fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing. People are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 two weeks or more after they have completed their final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the United States. However, CDC suggests that people who are fully vaccinated but still at-risk due to immunocompromising conditions should discuss the need for additional protections with their healthcare providers. CDC continues to recommend precautions for workers in transportation settings.

OSHA recommends that employers take the following steps to protect at-risk or unvaccinated workers:

Under anti-discrimination laws, workers who cannot be vaccinated because of medical conditions, such as allergies to vaccine ingredients, organ transplant or certain religious beliefs may ask for a reasonable accommodation from their employer.

Federal OSHA is authorized to set emergency temporary standards that take effect immediately and are in effect until superseded by a permanent standard. OSHA must determine that workers are in grave danger due to exposure to toxic substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or to new hazards and that an emergency standard is needed to protect them. Then, OSHA publishes the emergency temporary standard in the Federal Register, where it also serves as a proposed permanent standard. It is then subject to the usual procedure for adopting a permanent standard except that a final ruling should be made within six months.

Please feel free to contact me at mmeade@iamu.org or 515.289.1999 if you have any questions about the new guidelines or the new Emergency Temporary Standard.

The Presidential Executive order may be read in its entirety here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-protecting-worker-health-and-safety/

The new guidelines, Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace, may be read in its entirety here:  https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/safework