On May 20, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) met to consider proposed amendments to and re-adoption of the Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS or Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Regulations)[1]. Rather than amend or re-adopt the regulations, the OSHSB, at the request of staff from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA or Division), delayed action on the regulations to a special meeting scheduled for June 3, 2021.
Cal/OSHA staff requested the continuance in order for the Division to prepare new proposed amendments to the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Regulations that would take into account the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) May 13 guidance for “fully vaccinated”[2] people. That guidance provides that “fully vaccinated” people “no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, [or] local … laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”[3] In its request for continuance, Cal/OSHA staff indicated that it would limit “any potential changes to [the proposed amendments to] consideration of the recent [CDC] guidance, in order to make possible a targeted effective date of June 15, 2021.”[4]
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore attorneys are closely monitoring the proposed amendments to the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Regulations and actions of the OSHSB. We will be providing additional updates on the regulatory actions undertaken by the OSHSB following the June 3 special meeting.
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore will also be updating its model COVID-19 Prevention Program (CPP) template to conform to and comply with and amendments to the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Regulations, and will be making such template available after the OSHSB takes final action on the re-adoption of the amended regulations.
[1] 8 C.C.R. §§ 3205-3205.4.
[2] The CDC considers people to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 two (2) or more weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (e.g., Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or two (2) or more weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (e.g., Johnson & Johnson). (See CDC “Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People”, Overview, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html (Last updated May 13, 2021.)
[3] See CDC “Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People”, Summary of Recent Changes, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html (Last updated May 13, 2021.)
[4] See Eric Berg “Memorandum re: COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Regulations Set for Re-Adoption at May 20, 2021 Business Meeting”, https://www.dir.ca.gov/oshsb/documents/DOSH-Memorandum.pdf (May 19, 2021.) The June 15, 2021 date is the date on which Governor Newsom indicated that the State would lift COVID-19 restrictions. (See California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”) “Beyond the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/beyond_memo.aspx (Last updated April 6, 2021.)
This Special Bulletin is published for the benefit of the clients of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore. The information in this Special Bulletin should not be acted upon without professional advice.