Preparing for the HEROES Act's OSHA Regulations

Overview:

The Heroes Act (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act) includes a requirement that, "Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall, pursuant to section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 655), promulgate a final standard-(1) to protect employees" who are at occupational risk for exposure to SARS-CoV-2," also known as COVID-19, "...from occupational exposure to infectious pathogens, including novel pathogens."

Areas Covered in the Session :

• Enactment of the HEROES Act will require OSHA to develop a standard for protection of employees against contagious diseases like COVID-19, in which case employers will have to meet these requirements. Employers that get a head start by planning and acting now will be in an excellent position to meet these requirements, and also protect employees and other stakeholders should COVID-19 or anything like it ever return.

• OSHA's "Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19" offers a good starting point. Consider developing a risk register of locations and/or activities that could expose people to COVID-19 or a similar disease. Then ask what, if any, controls or countermeasures exist against:

• Contagion from a cough, noting that controls that will stop it from a cough will stop it from ordinary respiration and speech, but not necessarily the other way around. Experiments performed during the 1918 flu epidemic showed that, while contagion from even loud speech falls off beyond four feet, a cough can propagate it to 10 feet or more.

Contact Info:

Compliance Key

https://www.compliancekey.us/

Email : support@compliancekey.us

Phone : +1 717-208-8666