(April 2021) – Chris Saiya, KHA Workers Compensation Fund
On Jan. 21, President Joe Biden ordered OSHA to issue updated guidance and consider establishing an emergency temporary standard for workplace COVID-19 protections by March 15. On Jan. 29, OSHA issued stronger workplace health and safety guidance for protecting employees from COVID-19 exposures.
Also in response to the Executive Order from President Joe Biden, OSHA launched a National Emphasis Program on COVID-19 focusing enforcement efforts "on companies that put the largest number of workers at serious risk of contracting the coronavirus."
"With more people being vaccinated and the number of infections trending down, we know there is light at the end of the tunnel," acting OSHA Administrator Jim Frederick said in a March 12 press release from OSHA. "But until we are past this pandemic, workers deserve a Labor Department that is looking out for their health."
Some of the recommended steps in OSHA's updated guidance to employers are:
- Assign a workplace coordinator who is responsible for all COVID-19 issues.
- Perform a thorough hazard assessment involving workers and their representatives to identify potential workplace hazards related to COVID-19.
- Identify precautions in line with the hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, engineering controls like installing physical barriers, workplace administrative policies, and personal protective equipment.
- Consider enhanced protections, such as telework or work in less densely, better-ventilated facilities, for workers at higher risk for severe illness, such as older adults and those who have serious underlying medical conditions putting them at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- Educate and train workers on COVID-19 symptoms and hazards, as well as the policies and procedures established and implemented for their protection.
Chris Saiya, safety program manager for the Kansas Hospital Association Workers' Compensation Fund, is available to assist Workers' Compensation Fund members in their efforts to comply with the updated OSHA guidance. These services are offered at no additional cost to fund members. Contact Chris at csaiya@khsc.org or (785) 233-7436.