JBS Foods reached a settlement agreement with OSHA to develop and use infectious disease preparedness plans at seven of its meat processing plants. This stems from two COVID-19 outbreaks at two plants in 2020. The agreement involves the company assembling a team of company and third-party experts to create the plan and put it into […]
An employee who was fired for going to work while sick with COVID-19 cannot pursue a disability discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, according to a May 16, 2022, court decision. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California found in favor of the employer because the worker’s COVID symptoms were mild and […]
One million have died from COVID-19 in the U.S., and the National Safety Council says employers should reevaluate workplace COVID-19 policies. With much of the nation’s workforce returning to in-person work, the NSC is urging employers to take responsibility for the physical and psychological safety of workers. “Losing more than 1 million lives to COVID-19 […]
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an online calculator to help individuals determine how long they need to isolate, quarantine or take other precautions to prevent spreading COVID-19. This tool uses information about when someone was exposed to COVID-19, their vaccination status and any symptoms that are being experienced to provide […]
Cal/OSHA has new fact sheets and updated FAQs on California’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) posted on its website, reflecting recent changes made to the standard. The agency officially updated the ETS on April 21, 2022, and promised that new information clarifying certain parts of the standard would be forthcoming. Facts sheets and FAQs include: […]
While federal and state COVID-19 requirements may be easing, OSHA head Doug Parker says that most employers are maintaining policies to stem the spread of the coronavirus. In high-risk industries like healthcare and meat processing, employers seem to be acknowledging that COVID-19 is a continuing threat, Parker told Reuters in an April 27 interview. “We’re […]
Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board formally approved the readoption of California’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) with no substantive changes from the proposed draft. That proposed draft brought with it seven major changes over the prior version of the ETS, however. The revised ETS will become effective likely before the end of the first week of May […]
Despite concern over increasing cases of the BA.2 Omicron strain of COVID-19, many Americans – vaccinated or not – have stopped wearing masks and practicing social distancing. But there’s still one big way to protect employees: ventilation. “A growing coalition of epidemiologists and aerosol scientists say that improved ventilation could be a powerful tool against […]
Cal/OSHA issued a draft COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) April 6 to potentially replace the current version, which expires May 5, 2022. The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is scheduled to hear public comment on the proposed ETS, which would be the fourth version since Nov. 30, 2021, on April 21, 2022. If […]
