Health care workers dealt a blow with COVID protections
- An appeals court denied an emergency petition filed by labor unions hoping for permanent workplace safety standards to protect healthcare staff from COVID-19 infections in the workplace.
- Unions have lobbied OSHAto to implement a federal emergency temporary standard for medical facilities amid shifting guidance from national and local agencies through the first year of the pandemic.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled it lacked the authority to force the agency to make certain rules, leaving discretion up to OSHA, according to court documents.
- Health care employers pushed back when the standard was initially implemented, claiming the rule was long and complex with a quick compliance date and short comment period.
California Gov. signs fast-food workers bill
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation to empower fast-food workers with new wages and workplace protections to support their health, safety, and welfare.
- The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act authorizes the creation of the Fast Food Council comprised of representatives from labor and management to set minimum standards for workers in the industry.
- The new legislation will monitor wages, conditions related to health and safety, security in the workplace, the right to take time off from work for protected purposes, and protection from discrimination and harassment.
- Restaurant owners said the bill will drive up consumer costs.
Regulators addresses suicides in construction industry
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the suicide rate for men in construction and extraction was five times greater than the rate of all other work-related fatalities in the industry in 2018.
- These workers are four times more likely to end their own lives than people in the general population.
- OSHA has joined a task force of construction industry partners, unions and educators to raise awareness of the work stress seen as the cause of depression and the thoughts and acts of suicide among construction workers.
- The task force encourages industry employers to share and discuss available resources with their workers.
OSHA boosting COVID inspections at healthcare facilities
- OSHA has launched a new wave of COVID-19 inspections across hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that previously received citations or complaints.
-
The initiative will be conducted over a three-month period between March 9 and June 9, according to the agency, and will emphasize monitoring facilities’ “current and future readiness to protect workers from COVID-19.”
- Inspectors will be looking to see whether an employer’s previously cited COVID-19 violations or other related complaints and referral items have been corrected.
- Inspectors will also determine whether the employer has implemented a COVID-19 plan involving preparedness.