President Biden Orders Action From OSHA

In the flurry of executive orders issued by President Biden during his first week in office, is the Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety. This Order requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue “revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic” by no later than February 4. OSHA must also consider whether an emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 is necessary and issue any such standard by March 15.

The Order mandates a review of current COVID-19 enforcement efforts and identification of “any short-, medium-, and long-term changes that could be made to better protect workers and ensure equity in enforcement.” All regional OSHA offices must conduct a “multilingual outreach campaign to inform workers and their representatives of their rights under applicable law.”

We will continue to update you on OSHA’s efforts to comply with this Order in the coming weeks.

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