Tag: COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard

OSHA to Lead Focused Inspection & Enforcement of Facilities Treating COVID-19 Patients

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced on March 7 that until June 9, 2022, it will devote 15 percent of its workplace inspections per region to nursing homes, hospitals, and assisted living communities that treat pepople with COVID-19.

Through this focused enforcement initiative, the agency will verify and assess employers’ compliance actions taken, including their readiness to address any ongoing or future COVID-19 surges.

This action was foreshadowed by comments made by President Joe Biden about reforming quality and safety in nursing homes during his State of the Union address.

OSHA’s goal is to expand its presence to ensure continued mitigation to control the spread of COVID-19 and future variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and protect the health and safety of health care workers at heightened risk for contracting the virus.

“We are using available tools while we finalize a health care standard,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “We want to be ahead of any future events in healthcare.”

The agency will be initiating focused inspections to emphasize monitoring for current and future readiness to protect workers from COVID-19. Follow-up inspections will be conducted at sites that were previously issued citations, as well as where complaints were received but the agency did not conduct in-person inspections.

This initiative supplements OSHA’s targeted enforcement under the Revised COVID-19 National Emphasis Program [DIR 2021-03 (CPL 03)] by conducting focused follow-up and monitoring inspections of previously inspected or investigated hospitals and skilled nursing care facilities within four North American Industry Classification System codes listed in the memorandum where COVID-19 citations or Hazard Alert Letters were issued, including remote-only inspections where COVID-19-related citations were issued.

This initiative and the revised COVID-19 National Emphasis Program would comprise 15 percent of OSHA’s enforcement activity.

On Dec. 27, 2021, OSHA announced its decision to withdraw the non-recordkeeping portions of the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard. The agency will accept continued compliance with the Healthcare ETS as satisfying employers’ related obligations under the General Duty Clause, Personal Protective Equipment and Respiratory Protection standards.

OSHA has continually conducted outreach at the national, regional, and area office levels throughout the duration of the pandemic outbreak. Visit the agency’s Coronavirus Disease webpage for more information and resources on keeping workers safe from COVID-19.

OSHA to Lead Focused Inspection & Enforcement of Facilities Treating COVID-19 Patients

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced this month that until June 9, 2022, it will devote 15 percent of its workplace inspections per region to nursing homes, hospitals, and assisted living communities that treat pepople with COVID-19. Through this focused enforcement initiative, the agency will verify and assess employers’ compliance actions taken, including their…

OSHA Seeks Extension for COVID-19 Recordkeeping & Reporting Standards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is seeking extension of the collection of information  for the following provisions that were part of the OSHA The COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).

  • 29 CFR 1910.502(q)(2)(ii) and (3) (ii)-(iv) Recordkeeping. Requiring employers with more than 10 employees to establish and maintain COVID-19 logs recording each instance in which an employee is COVID-19 positive, and to make such records available upon request to employees or their representatives (in redacted form where necessary), and OSHA.
  •  29 CFR 1910.502(r) Reporting COVID-19 fatalities and hospitalizations to OSHA. Requiring the employer to report each work-related COVID-19 fatality within 8 hours of the employer learning about the fatality and each work-related COVID-19 in-patient hospitalization within 24 hours of the employer learning about the in-patient hospitalization.

On December 27 , 2021 OSHA announced the withdrawal of the Healthcare ETS. OSHA withdrew the ETS because it has been greater than six months since the effective date  and the timely issuance of  a permanent standard was delayed. However, OSHA announced its plans to continue to require the standards in the ETS for recordkeeping and reporting.

Public comments  on the information collection are due January 31, 2022

OSHA Withdraws Most Provisions of the Healthcare ETS

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced today that it is withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portions of the healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard put in place to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19.

The COVID-19 log and reporting provisions, 29 CFR 1910.502(q)(2)(ii), (q)(3)(ii)-(iv), and (r), remain in effect. These provisions were adopted under a separate provision of the OSH Act, section 8, and OSHA found good cause to forgoe notice and comment in light of the grave danger presented by the pandemic. See 86 FR 32559.

OSHA intends to continue to work expeditiously to issue a final standard that will protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 hazards, and will do so as it also considers its broader infectious disease rulemaking. OSHA withdrew the non-recordkeeping portions of the ETS because it anticipates a final rule cannot be completed in a timeframe approaching the one contemplated by the OSH Act.

On June 21, 2021, OSHA adopted a Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (Healthcare ETS) protecting workers from COVID-19 in settings where they provide healthcare or healthcare support services. 86 FR 32376. Under the OSH Act, an ETS is effective until superseded by a permanent standard – a process contemplated by the OSH Act to occur within 6 months of the ETS’s promulgation. 29 U.S.C. 655(c).

With the rise of the Delta variant this fall, and now the spread of the Omicron variant this winter, OSHA believes the danger faced by healthcare workers continues to be of the highest concern and measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are still needed to protect them. Given these facts, and given OSHA’s anticipated finalization of this rule, OSHA strongly encourages all healthcare employers to continue to implement the ETS’s requirements in order to protect employees from a hazard that too often causes death or serious physical harm to employees.

As the agency works towards a permanent regulatory solution, OSHA will vigorously enforce the general duty clause and its general standards, including the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Respiratory Protection Standards, to help protect healthcare employees from the hazard of COVID-19. The Respiratory Protection Standard applies to personnel providing care to persons who are suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19. OSHA will accept compliance with the terms of the Healthcare ETS as satisfying employers’ related obligations under the general duty clause, respiratory protection, and PPE standards. Continued adherence to the terms of the healthcare ETS is the simplest way for employers in healthcare settings to protect their employees’ health and ensure compliance with their OSH Act obligations.

OSHA believes the terms of the Healthcare ETS remain relevant in general duty cases in that they show that COVID-19 poses a hazard in the healthcare industry and that there are feasible means of abating the hazard. OSHA plans to publish a notice in the Federal Register to implement this announcement.

It is unclear what OSHA’s expectations are for providers in relation to its Vaccination and Testing ETS if healthcare providers continue to follow the provisions of the OSHA Healthcare ETS. The National Association for Home Care & Hospice will continue to follow the developments closely and provide updates as we learn more.

OSHA Seeks Extension for COVID-19 Recordkeeping & Reporting Standards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is seeking extension of the collection of information  for the following provisions that were part of the OSHA The COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). 29 CFR 1910.502(q)(2)(ii) and (3) (ii)-(iv) Recordkeeping. Requiring employers with more than 10 employees to establish and maintain COVID-19 logs recording each instance…

OSHA Withdraws Most Provisions of the Healthcare ETS

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced today that it is withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portions of the healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard put in place to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19. The COVID-19 log and reporting provisions, 29 CFR 1910.502(q)(2)(ii), (q)(3)(ii)-(iv), and (r), remain in effect. These provisions were adopted under a separate provision of the…

OSHA Updates Guidance on Protecting Unvaccinated and At-Risk Workers from COVID-19

  • Medicare to pay for COVID-19 booster vaccines

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today issued updated guidance to help employers protect workers from the coronavirus. The updated guidance reflects developments in science and data, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated COVID-19 guidance issued July 27.

The updated guidance expands information on appropriate measures for protecting workers in higher-risk workplaces with mixed-vaccination status workers, particularly where there is often prolonged close contact with other workers and/or non-workers.

OSHA’s latest 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 for up to 14 days unless they have a negative coronavirus test at least 3-5 days after such contact;
  • Clarifies recommendations to protect unvaccinated workers and other at-risk workers in manufacturing, meat and poultry processing, seafood processing and agricultural processing; and
  • Links to the latest guidance on K-12 schools and CDC statements on public transit.

OSHA continues to emphasize that vaccination is the optimal step to protect workers and encourages employers to engage with workers and their representatives to implement multi-layered approaches to protect unvaccinated or otherwise at-risk workers from the coronavirus.

As part of the agency’s ongoing commitment to review the COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard every 30-days, OSHA also said that the safeguards set forth by the standard remain more important than ever. After reviewing the latest guidance, science and data, and consulting with the CDC and partners, OSHA has determined the requirements of the healthncare ETS remain necessary to address the grave danger of the coronavirus in health care.

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In other COVID-19 news, Medicare will pay for administering an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine consistent with the FDA emergency use authorization (EUA). Medicare will pay the same amount to administer this additional dose as it did for other doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (approximately $40 each).

CMS expects to share more information in the coming days about billing and coding.

OSHA Updates Guidance on Protecting Unvaccinated and At-Risk Workers from COVID-19

Medicare to pay for COVID-19 booster vaccines The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today issued updated guidance to help employers protect workers from the coronavirus. The updated guidance reflects developments in science and data, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated COVID-19 guidance issued July 27. The updated…