OSHA develops draft COVID-19 emergency temporary standard

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Monday sent a draft of a COVID-19 emergency temporary standard to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review, according to a Department of Labor spokeswoman.

Development of a standard was delayed following President Joe Biden’s Jan. 21 executive order that OSHA decide by March 15 whether a standard to keep workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic was necessary. 

“OSHA has been working diligently on its proposal and has taken the appropriate time to work with its science agency partners, economic agencies and others in the U.S. government to get this proposed emergency standard right,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email.

Details on the standard were not immediately available.

The news follows President Biden’s recent appointment of Doug Parker to lead OSHA. Mr. Parker helped develop a COVID-19 standard in California as head of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.