OSHA Covid vaccine standards take effect
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 vaccination and testing goes into effect today.
Compliance requirements, as compiled by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA), are listed below. The ETS applies to businesses with 100 or more employees at the company-wide level.
Last month, OSHA announced that they would not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before Jan. 10 and would not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard.
On Jan. 7 the U.S. Supreme Court heard legal challenges to OSHA’s ETS and a ruling could come as soon as this week, the NLBMDA reports.
While employers await a decision from the Supreme Court, NLBMDA members are encouraged to be prepared to comply with the ETS requirements as detailed in OSHA’s guidance.
NLBMDA members can find the full text of the ETS here and additional guidance from OSHA here.
Compliance Requirements – Jan. 10
- Establish policy on vaccination.
- Determine vaccination status of each employee, obtain acceptable proof of vaccination, maintain records and roster of vaccination status.
- Provide support for employee vaccination.
- Require employees to promptly provide notice of positive COVID-19 test or COVID-19 diagnosis.
- Remove any employee who received positive COVID-19 test or COVID-19 diagnosis.
- Ensure employees who are not fully vaccinated wear face coverings when indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes.
- Provide each employee information about the ETS; workplace policies and procedures; vaccination efficacy, safety and benefits; protections against retaliation and discrimination; and laws that provide for criminal penalties for knowingly supplying false documentation.
- Report work-related COVID-19 fatalities to OSHA within 8 hours and work-related COVID-19 in-patient hospitalizations within 24 hours.
- Make certain records available.
Compliance Requirements - Feb. 9
- Ensure employees who are not fully vaccinated are tested for COVID-19 at least weekly (if in the workplace at least once a week) or within 7 days before returning to work (if away from the workplace for a week or longer.