The past year has been a rollercoaster for business, and the unknowns for the future have kept business owners concerned. COVID-19 has created new safety considerations in terms of infectious disease and workplace cleanliness. Unfortunately, these are real and here to stay. Even with vaccines, this disease, and others like it, will affect us both professionally and socially for years to come.
State and federal requirements have been mixed depending on the state where your business resides. There are currently 22 federally approved OSHA workplace safety and health programs operated by individual states or U.S. territories. Those states that do not have their own safety and health administration programs are regulated under federal OSHA. The individual state health and safety programs must meet or exceed the requirements of federal OSHA. The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OR-OSHA), for example, has initialized temporary and permanent health and safety standards for infectious diseases.
During the pandemic, many companies have inquired about how COVID-19 is changing workplace safety requirements. The answer depends on how your state’s safety and health plan is administered. It’s important that each business owner keeps up on state and federal requirements in response to COVID-19, as well as future pandemics and diseases. Bloodborne pathogens, like Hepatitis and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have permanently changed the way the medical profession and other workplaces handle human blood, human body fluids, and other potentially infectious materials. COVID-19 and future infectious disease outbreaks will require workplaces to make changes to their health and safety programs in order to protect employees and reduce unnecessary downtime.
All companies are required under the General Duty Clause to provide a safe and healthy workplace for their employees that is free of recognized hazards. The General Duty Clause is found in Section 5 of the 1970 OSH Act 5(a)(1) and is a catchall for all workplace safety hazards not regulated by other written standards.
In April of 2020, OSHA provided all workplaces with Guide 3990, Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. Although this guide doesn’t make new regulations, it does provide recommendations, as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards, intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace. The guide can be found at https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf.
With the recent pandemic, I have seen employers receive fines from $150 for initial citations, and up to $7,500 for repeat offenses. Like any OSHA regulation, it’s always best to be proactive, rather than reactive.
General Duty Clause Basics
In order to support a general duty clause citation, OSHA must show all four of the following:
1. The workplace was not kept free of a recognized hazard and employees were exposed to it.
2. The hazard is “recognized” (normally proven through published citations in the scientific literature or through industry reference documents).
3. This hazard is causing (or could be causing) death or physical harm.
4. There is a feasible means to abate or correct the problem, meaning the abatement method is not cost-prohibitive and will reduce exposures to a safe level.
Depending on your state, you may be required to have an infectious disease plan or program in writing. In states where a program is not required, federal OSHA recommends a program to be in place. An infectious disease plan or program identifies what the employer will do in the event of an infectious disease outbreak or pandemic. I recommend that all employers make a written infectious disease program whether it is required in your state or not. This program shows OSHA that the workplace has been proactive in assuring a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. It will also help assure that the workplace remains operational in the event of a pandemic.
Developing an Infectious Disease Plan
A written infectious disease plan should include information and policies and procedures for the following:
• Information describing infectious diseases
• Program administrator
• Person or persons in charge of monitoring and compliance
• A workplace infectious disease risk assessment for departments and job tasks.
The assessment should include:
• Job task risks for infectious disease transmission
• Administrative and engineering controls to reduce or eliminate exposures
• Personal protective equipment requirements
Unlike physical hazards, such as a guard removed from a machine, where the exposure is straightforward, viruses, germs, and microorganisms are invisible to the human eye. Assessing risks to health is more difficult. Instead of exposures to points of operation, you must assess exposures from those that could possibly be ill or carrying a virus or disease, such as other employees, or the public. Appropriate management of potentially infectious exposures and illnesses in a workplace can prevent the development and transmission of infections.
Effective management of exposures and illnesses includes promptly assessing exposures and diagnosing illness, monitoring for the development of signs and symptoms of disease, and providing appropriate post-exposure or illness management.
• A schedule outlining routine cleaning and disinfecting of commonly used items and equipment. This includes door handles, counter tops, restrooms, break areas, coffee makers, water fountains, refrigerators, copy machines, tools and other shared equipment.
• Enforcement of maintaining a 6-foot minimum separation distance between all persons
• Proper hand washing and hygiene practices
• Enforcement of stay-at-home when sick
• Employee training
The program should include preventive actions that can make a business better prepared for a pandemic:
• Encourage employees to stay healthy by promoting a healthy lifestyle. Talk to local gyms about employer group discounts. Provide annual training for employees on the importance of illness prevention, such as staying home when sick, covering their coughs, proper personal hygiene, and cleanliness.
• Provide flu-prevention supplies in your workplace. Have supplies on hand for workers, such as soap, hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, tissues, trash baskets, and disposable face masks. Plan to have extra supplies on hand during a pandemic.
• Plan for worker absences. Develop flexible pandemic flu attendance and sick-leave policies. Employees may need to stay home when they are sick, caring for a sick household member, or caring for their children in the event of school dismissals. Identify critical job functions and positions, and plan for alternative coverage by cross-training staff (similar to planning for holiday staffing).
• Include a method for monitoring and tracking flu-related employee absences. Understand your usual absenteeism patterns at each worksite. Determine what level of absenteeism will disrupt day-to-day operations. If employee absenteeism increases to disruptive levels, some workplaces may need to consider temporarily reducing on-site operations and services.
• Identify space that can be used to separate sick people (if possible). Designate a space for people who may become sick and cannot leave the workplace immediately. If possible, designate a nearby separate bathroom just for sick people. Develop a plan for cleaning the room daily.
• Brainstorm ways to increase space between people to at least six feet or limit face-to-face contact between workers and those who come to the workplace. Several ways to do this include offering workers the option to telework, creating reduced or staggered work schedules, spacing workers farther apart, and postponing non-essential meetings and travel.
Infectious diseases have been plaguing the world for centuries, and as an employer, you must remain adaptable and proactive for the safety of your employee. The best defense is a good offense to ensure that you are ready for any new COVID-19 outbreaks or other infectious diseases.
