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On November 17, Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA) introduced SJRes 29 and HJRes 65, Congressional Review Act (CRA) challenges to OSHA’s vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS). All 50 Republican Senators and over 190 Republican Representatives have cosponsored their respective joint resolutions. The CRA allows Congress to challenge rules issued…
Read MoreOn November 9, the Coalition for Workplace Safety requested an additional 60 days for the comment period on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s heat injury and illness prevention advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM). The coalition asked OSHA to double the current comment period, which is only 60 days, to a full 120 days.…
Read MoreOn November 8, the Coalition for Workplace Safety submitted a request to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration asking the agency to extend the comment period on its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard for an additional 60 days. The current comment period, which only provided 30 days for the public to provide input,…
Read MoreOn November 5, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard. The ETS applies to private sector employers with 100 or more employees throughout their company. The ETS requires employers to: develop, implement, and enforce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies or vaccination-or-testing policies; determine and keep a roster of…
Read MoreOn September 20, OSHA announced its new enforcement initiative to combat the hazards associated with extreme heat exposure both indoors and outdoors. OSHA is also developing a National Emphasis Program on heat inspections targeting high-risk industries and launching a rulemaking process to develop a workplace heat standard. An Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on heat injury and…
Read MoreOn September 9, President Biden announced his six-pronged, comprehensive national strategy to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. This included a significant escalation of his efforts to get the eligible population vaccinated against the virus. One piece of this plan includes a new emergency temporary standard from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that will require employers with…
Read MoreOn August 20, CWS filed comments on OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard for the healthcare industry. CWS raised several issues with OSHA’s decision and process for implementing the ETS: OSHA’s process was flawed and did not provide adequate opportunity for input; OSHA has not satisfied the statutory requirements for “grave danger” or “necessity”; Several provisions exceed OSHA’s statutory authority, including…
Read MoreOn August 13, OSHA announced updated guidance for employers on how to best protect their unvaccinated workers. The guidance: Recommends that fully vaccinated workers in areas of substantial or high community transmission wear masks in order to protect unvaccinated workers; Recommends that fully vaccinated workers who have close contacts with people with coronavirus wear masks…
Read MoreOn June 10, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ETS specifically targets the healthcare industry and the high exposure rates associated with those occupations. This includes “employees in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities; emergency responders; home health care workers; and employees in ambulatory…
Read MoreOn Friday, May 21, OSHA altered its FAQ on recording requirements related to adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination. OSHA explains that the agency “does not wish to have any appearance of discouraging workers from receiving COVID-19 vaccination, and also does not wish to disincentivize employers’ vaccination efforts.” Therefore, the agency will not require employers…
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