Blogs

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) has proposed a third readoption of the COVID Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). The Board will vote at its next meeting on April 21, 2022. If adopted, the revised ETS will remain in effect until December 31, 2022.

While much of the current ETS will remain unchanged, the proposed third readoption of the ETS includes some significant changes and the removal of some requirements.

If adopted, one of the bigger changes includes the removal of the term "fully-vaccinated." The ETS will no longer distinguish between employees based on vaccination status, meaning that the requirements of the ETS will apply to all employees regardless of vaccination status. This includes the employer's obligation to provide face coverings and respirators (N-95s) to all employees who request one. Additionally, during an outbreak, employers will be required to offer testing to all symptomatic employees at no cost to the employee and during paid time, regardless of vaccination status.

A new term in the proposed ETS is for "returned cases," which refers to employees who have returned to work after testing positive for COVID-19 who remain asymptomatic. Employers will not be required to make testing available for "returned cases."

The ETS no longer requires face coverings, which has been the case since Governor Newsom signed an executive order overriding the ETS on February 28, 2022. However, face coverings will still be required if an employee returns to work within ten days of a positive COVID test or if the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issues an order requiring them. Additionally, face coverings will be required for employees indoors in an "exposed group." The definition of face coverings is updated to no longer require that light not pass through the face covering.

The ETS eliminates the requirement for cleaning and disinfecting procedures and cleanable solid partitions where social distance cannot be maintained. The definition of testing has been updated to permit self-administered tests. However, where testing is necessary to return to work, the employee must provide "another means of independent verification," such as a time-stamped photograph of the test results.

Additional changes include what qualifies as a COVID-19 test, that COVID-19 testing is "required" for major COVID-19 outbreaks (rather than "made available"), replaces the term "high-risk exposure period" with the term "infectious period" to align more with the CDPH's Isolation and Quarantine Guidance, among others.

The ETS continues to defer to the CDPH guidance on isolation and quarantine periods and requirements, in accordance with Executive Order N-84-20. The California Legal Services team will monitor these developments as they progress. If you have any questions related to COVID-19 exposures at the workplace, please contact us at CAInfo@employerscouncil.org.