Cal/OSHA Interim Guidelines for General Industry on 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
Cal/OSHA's regulations require protection for workers exposed to airborne infectious diseases such as the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), first identified in Wuhan City, China in December 2019. This interim guidance provides employers and workers with information for preventing exposure to the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19. Employers and employees should review their own health and safety procedures as well as the recommendations and standards detailed below to ensure workers are protected.
Employers must follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), February 2020.
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Infection Prevention
These guidelines include infection prevention measures which include:
Actively encouraging sick employees to stay home
Sending employees with acute respiratory illness symptoms home immediately
Providing information and training to employees on:
Cough and sneeze etiquette
Hand hygiene
Avoiding close contact with sick persons
Avoiding touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
Avoiding sharing personal items with co-workers (i.e. dishes, cups, utensils, towels)
Providing tissues, no-touch disposal trash cans and hand sanitizer for use by employees
Performing routine environmental cleaning of shared workplace equipment and furniture (disinfection beyond routine cleaning is not recommended)
Advising employees to check CDC’s Traveler’s Health Notices prior to travel
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Injury & Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)
All employers must have an IIPP (Title 8 section 3203) to protect employees from workplace hazards. Employers are required to determine if COVID-19 infection is a hazard in their workplace. If it is a workplace hazard, then employers must:
Implement measures to prevent or reduce infection hazards, such as implementing the CDC recommended actions listed above
Provide training to employees on their COVID-19 infection prevention methods
Washing Facilities
Regardless of COVID-19 risk, all employers must provide washing facilities that have an adequate supply of suitable cleansing agents, water and single-use towels or blowers (title 8 sections 1527, 3366, 3457 and 8397.4).
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Title 8 section 3380 Personal Protective Devices requires employers to conduct a hazard assessment to determine if hazards are present in the workplace that necessitate the use of PPE. If an employer identifies COVID-19 as a workplace hazard, they must select and provide exposed employees with properly fitting PPE that will effectively protect employees.
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Control of Harmful Exposures
Title 8 section 5141 Control of Harmful Exposures requires employers to protect employees from inhalation exposures that can result in injury, illness, disease, impairment or loss of function. COVID-19 is a harmful exposure if there is an increased risk of infection at the workplace. Employers must implement engineering controls where feasible and administrative controls where practicable, or provide respiratory protection where engineering and administrative controls cannot protect employees and during emergencies. The CDC recommendations above describe some useful administrative controls. For more information on respirator use see section 5144 and the federal OSHA respiratory protection etool. Surgical and other non-respirator face masks do not protect persons from airborne infectious disease and cannot be relied upon for novel pathogens. They do not prevent inhalation of virus particles because they do not seal to the person’s face and are not tested to the filtration efficiencies of respirators.
Federal OSHA Standards
Recording workplace exposures to COVID-19
OSHA recordkeeping requirements at 29 CFR Part 1904 mandate covered employers record certain work-related injuries and illnesses on their OSHA 300 log.
COVID-19 can be a recordable illness if a worker is infected as a result of performing their work-related duties.
However, employers are only responsible for recording cases of COVID-19 if all of the following are met:
The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19 (see CDC information on persons under investigation and presumptive positive and laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19);
The case is work-related, as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5; and
The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR 1904.7(e.g. medical treatment beyond first-aid, days away from work).
Visit OSHA’s Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements page for more information.
There is no specific OSHA standard covering COVID-19. However, some OSHA requirements may apply to preventing occupational exposure to COVID-19.
Among the most relevant are:
OSHA's Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) standards (in general industry, 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I), which require using gloves, eye and face protection, and respiratory protection.
When respirators are necessary to protect workers, employers must implement a comprehensive respiratory protection program in accordance with the Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134).
OSHA has issued temporary guidance related to enforcement of respirator annual fit-testing requirements for healthcare.
The General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970, 29 USC 654(a)(1), which requires employers to furnish to each worker “employment and a place of employment, which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.”
OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) applies to occupational exposure to human blood and other potentially infectious materials that typically do not include respiratory secretions that may transmit COVID-19. However, the provisions of the standard offer a framework that may help control some sources of the virus, including exposures to body fluids (e.g., respiratory secretions) not covered by the standard.
Contact Us
Kienle Law, PC remains open and fully staffed to respond to employer inquiries and request for legal counsel arising from an OSHA investigation, and we continue to monitor OSHA guidelines for employers in all industries.
Kienle Law, PC encourages every employer to perform a hazard assessment for the potential for exposure at the workplace to COVID-19. Kienle Law, PC stands ready to partner with you to ensure OSHA compliance and sustained workforce health.