New Guidance from OSHA on COVID-19 and an Interactive State of Iowa Resource

New Guidance from OSHA on COVID-19

Determining if a positive COVID-19 case should be recorded on your OSHA log:
Under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements, COVID-19 is a recordable illness, and employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19, if the case:

• Is confirmed as a COVID-19 illness;
• Is work-related as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5; and
• Involves one or more of the general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7, such as medical treatment beyond first aid or days away from work.

In areas where there is ongoing community transmission, employers other than those in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting and law enforcement services), and correctional institutions may have difficulty making determinations about whether workers who contracted COVID-19 did so due to exposures at work. Accordingly, until further notice, OSHA will not enforce its recordkeeping requirements to require these employers to make work-relatedness determinations for COVID-19 cases, except where: (1) There is objective evidence that a COVID-19 case may be work-related; and (2) The evidence was reasonably available to the employer. Employers of workers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations and correctional institutions must continue to make work-relatedness determinations pursuant to 29 CFR Part 1904.

OSHA Interim Enforcement Response Plan for COVID-19
Within the lengthy directive, Attachment 5 list these resources that apply to COVID-19 and the applicable standards:

Additional OSHA COVID-19-Related References

Please see the following references and web-links for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related guidance and technical information. For subsequent updates, continue to refer to OSHA’s COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page located at www.osha.gov/coronavirus.

OSHA Guidance:

• Preventing Worker Exposure to Coronavirus (COVID-19), OSHA publication 3989), www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3989.pdf.
• Guidance on Preparing for COVID-19, (OSHA publication 3990), www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf.
• OSHA Memorandum – Temporary Enforcement Guidance – Healthcare Respiratory Protection Annual Fit-Testing for N95 Filtering Facepieces During the COVID-19 Outbreak, March 14, 2020, www.osha.gov/memos/2020-03-14/temporary-enforcement-guidance-healthcare-respiratory-protection-annual-fit.
• OSHA Memorandum – Expanded Temporary Enforcement Guidance on Respiratory Protection Fit-Testing for N95 Filtering Facepieces in All Industries During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic, April 8, 2020, www.osha.gov/memos/2020-04-08/expanded-temporary-enforcement-guidance-respiratory-protection-fit-testing-n95.
• OSHA Memorandum – Enforcement Guidance for Respiratory Protection and the N95 Shortage Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic, April 3, 2020, www.osha.gov/memos/2020-04-03/enforcement-guidance-respiratory-protection-and-n95-shortage-due-coronavirus.
• OSHA Memorandum – Enforcement Guidance for Use of Respiratory Protection Equipment Certified under Standards of Other Countries or Jurisdictions During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic, April 3, 2020, www.osha.gov/memos/2020-04-03/enforcement-guidance-use-respiratory-protection-equipment-certified-under.
• OSHA Memorandum – Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), April 10, 2020, www.osha.gov/memos/2020-04-10/enforcement-guidance-recording-cases-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19.
• OSHA Respiratory Protection standard, 29 CFR § 1910.134:
  – www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.134;
  – www.osha.gov/SLTC/respiratoryprotection/index.html.
• OSHA Personal Protective Equipment standard:
  – www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.132;
  – www.osha.gov/SLTC/personalprotectiveequipment/index.html.
• OSHA Sanitation standard:
  www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.141