The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard, “Occupational Exposure to COVID-19; Emergency Temporary Standard” was published in the June 21, 2021 Federal Register, with an effective date of June 21, 2021. There are two compliance dates associated with this standard, and both are tight time frames: July 6, 2021 and July 21, 2021, so if you aren’t working on this requirement, it is time to think about it. Thankfully, OSHA has provided a huge list of helpful documents, including templates, for healthcare provider use on its COVID-19 Healthcare ETS webpage.
A couple important documents provided by OSHA include:
- OSHA COVID-19 ETS COVID-19 Plan Template
- OSHA COVID-19 Healthcare Worksite Checklist & Employee Job Hazard Analysis
- OSHA Sample COVID-19 Log
It is important to recognize that most healthcare providers have much of the required data, policies & procedures available to them, such as those needed for Standard and Transmission-Based precautions. Other areas, such as where potential hazards have been identified in the workplace related to COVID-19, and the actions the facility has taken to implement physical distancing and the use of physical barriers, will also need to be included. Don’t forget that training is a big component of the ETS, and OSHA has provided two customizable training presentations for provider use, one for the Healthcare ETS and the second for the newly-added Mini Respiratory Protection Program.
