Healthcare workers experienced a whopping 249% increase in injury and illness rates in 2020, and OSHA is now calling on employers in the industry to implement proactive safety and health programs to keep those workers safe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, workers in the healthcare and social assistance industries combined suffered more injuries and illnesses than workers […]
A coalition of safety groups, businesses and government agencies, led by the National Safety Council, has released a framework for employers during re-opening in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The recommendations are from the SAFER (Safe Actions for Employee Returns) task force. The six focus areas in the framework are: Physical environments: building maintenance, requiring […]
Employers are getting federal guidance on how to properly clean and disinfect their facilities before re-opening from coronavirus-related closures. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control issued guidance April 29 providing step-by-step instruction for post-pandemic cleaning and disinfecting of workplaces, public spaces, businesses, schools and homes. Proper cleaning and disinfecting are important […]
The National Safety Council (NSC) will lead a new task force that will guide employers through the process of resuming work in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Safe Actions For Employee Returns (SAFER) task force includes Fortune 500 companies, safety organizations, government agencies and trade associations, including: American Chemistry Council American Industrial Hygiene Association […]
The closure and production cuts for businesses during the coronavirus pandemic are unprecedented. So restarting and re-adding capacity will be unprecedented also. We don’t know when and how this will happen. From a safety standpoint, there are plans you can make now. Staffing Will your workforce look the same as before COVID-19? If businesses ramp […]
Some members of Congress and professional associations have called on OSHA to initiate an emergency, temporary infectious disease regulation due to the coronavirus pandemic. What could an emergency regulation include? One way to find out is to look at one state’s rule that already exists and at the rulemaking that was started on a permanent […]
Federal OSHA has received thousands of COVID-19-related complaints from workers across the U.S. who are required to work despite the hazards posed by the pandemic. Workers in healthcare, construction, grocery stores, pharmacies and shipping companies filed more than 3,000 complaints claiming their employers aren’t keeping them safe from exposure to the coronavirus. Freedom of Information […]
During this COVID-19 pandemic, workplace drug testing will require new rules and new precaution, but it should never be compromised. Here’s a real-life incident involving a test subject who, while waiting to take a drug test, realized that a co-worker was coughing in the restroom. He then refused to enter the restroom because there was […]
OSHA expanded its temporary guidance for respirator fit-testing during the COVID-19 pandemic to all industries as of April 8. Temporary guidance the agency issued March 14 regarding COVID-19-related supply shortages of N95 and other facepiece respirators in the healthcare industry is now expanded to all workplaces where there is required respirator use. OSHA field offices […]
