In an effort to help employers protect workers from COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued updated guidance.
“The updated guidance expands information on appropriate measures for protecting workers in higher-risk workplaces with mixed-vaccination status workers, particularly for industries such as manufacturing; meat, seafood and poultry processing; high volume retail and grocery; and agricultural processing, where there is often prolonged close contact with other workers and/or non-workers,” OSHA said in a release.
According to the news release, OSHA recommends the following:
-it recommends fully vaccinated workers in areas of substantial or high community transmission wear masks in order to protect unvaccinated workers
-it recommends fully vaccinated workers who have close contacts with people with coronavirus, such as family members, wear masks for up to 14 days unless they have a negative coronavirus test at least 3-5 days after such contact
-it clarifies the recommendations to protect unvaccinated workers and other at-risk workers in manufacturing, meat and poultry processing, seafood processing and agricultural processing
the agency offers the latest guidance on K-12 schools and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statements on public transit
Vaccination is the optimal step to protect workers, OHSA said, encouraging employers to engage with workers and their representatives to implement multi-layered approaches to protect unvaccinated or otherwise at-risk workers from the coronavirus.
“Our priority is the safety and health of workers, and we will continue to enforce the law to ensure workers are protected from the virus while they are on the job, including through OSHA’s National Emphasis Program on COVID,” OSHA said in a release.
This updated guidance reflects developments in science and data, OSHA noted, including the CDC’s updated COVID-19 guidance issued July 27. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued similar rules changes for its personnel and employees of inspected establishments earlier this month.
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