One month after the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration withdrew its workplace vaccine and mask mandate, plans are underway for a new approach targeting only healthcare workers.
In a release sent out by the Department of Labor it is noted that the nation’s healthcare workers have not only experienced a significant increase in injuries and illnesses since the Covid-19 onset, but that “healthcare and social assistance workers combined for more injuries and illnesses than any other industry in the nation.”
Last month, OSHA rescinded an earlier announced mandate requiring vaccines against the coronavirus or workplace testing for businesses with 100 or more employees.
That action took place in response to a Supreme Court ruling saying that OSHA had gone beyond its recognized authority in implementing the vaccine and testing policy, noting: “Although Covid-19 is a risk that occurs in many workplaces, it is not an occupational hazard in most.”
Now OSHA has announced that it is in the process of putting together a “final standard to protect healthcare workers from Covid 19.”
At the same time, the agency says that employers must “continue to comply with their obligations under the General Duty Clause, the Personal Protective Equipment and Respiratory Protection Standards, as well as other applicable OSHA standards to protect their employees against the hazard of Covid 19 in the workplace.”
The initial OSHA vaccine mandate was challenged by many industry groups, including the Associated General Contractors of America and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, who asserted, among other things, that the OSHA action would precipitate a massive exit of construction workers opposed to a mandate.
Although employers largely celebrated the Supreme Court ruling, they are still “not out of OSHA’s regulatory reach when it comes to taking steps to protect employees from Covid 19,” says Bloomberg Law.
The publication notes that OSHA has thus far “issued over $4 million in penalties for Covid 19 safety violations, based on the general duty clause and respiratory protection, record keeping, and other OSHA standards.”
Industry speculation is now centering on the possibility that OSHA may issue a new and more targeted covid “emergency temporary standard” in the months to come.
Meanwhile, adds Bloomberg Law, “Given the agency’s strong views about Covid 19, there should be no doubt that the agency will continue issuing citations for Covid 19 related safety matters.”
In response to federal, state, and local vaccine mandates, as well as those imposed by private employers, there have been more than 450 legal challenges filed in various courts across the country. Of that number, notes the National Law Review, “about 60 of those complaints have been brought as putative class actions.”
By Garry Boulard
