OSH Standards Board Withdraws Its Amended COVID-19 ETS

At its June 9, 2021 Special Board Meeting, the California Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Standards Board withdrew its June 3^rd revisions to Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The effect of the Board’s action is the initial ETS adopted in November of 2020, will remain in-place until revised or rescinded. 

Standards Board Chair Dave Thomas indicated the June 9^th Special Meeting and subsequent withdrawal of ETS revisions is a result of new California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidelines, which are in line with Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. At last night’s Special Standards Board meeting, Dr. Tomas Aragon, CDPH Director, presented CDPH guidelines pertaining to face coverings slated for implementation June 15^th, which do not require masks for “fully vaccinated” individuals, with five specific exceptions, while masks are required for the unvaccinated in indoor public settings and businesses.

Exceptions to CDPH’s No Mask Requirement for Fully Vaccinated:

• On public transit[1] (examples: airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares) and in transportation hubs (examples: airport, bus terminal, marina, train station, seaport or other port, subway station, or any other area that provides transportation)
• Indoors in K-12 schools[2], childcare[3] and other youth settings.
  • Note: This may change as updated K-12 schools guidance is forthcoming, pending updates for K-12 operational guidance from the CDC.
• Healthcare settings[4] (including long term care facilities[5]) 
• State and local correctional facilities and detention centers[6]
• Homeless shelters[7], emergency shelters[8] and cooling centers[9] 

The Standards Board tasked Cal/OSHA with additional ETS revisions that will closely align the ETS with CDPH’s latest COVID-19 guidelines and present said revisions to the Board during its June 17, 2021 meeting.

PRISM will continue to monitor the OSH Standards Board, with more to come following its June 17^th meeting. For questions about this blog or PRISM’s monitoring of COVID-19 regulation, please contact PRISM Risk Control.