The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to address gaps in existing regulations felt to be necessary to protect health care workers. The ETS is limited to settings where employees provide health care or health care support services. Among other requirements, the ETS mandates that health care employers provide respirators to employees working with COVID-19 patients, provide and ensure use of facemasks when working indoors, establish a COVID-19 response plan, screen employees and patients for the virus, record employee cases and provide training on COVID-19 risks at work.

Employers must comply with most requirements with 14 days of the regulation's publication in the Federal Register on June 21. Other requirements allow 30 days for compliance. More information is available at OSHA's COVID-19 ETS resource page here, with the full regulation available here, summary here and a fact sheet available here.

Clinical Topics: COVID-19 Hub

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Masks, Occupational Health, Health Personnel, Health Services, Health Resources, Ventilators, Mechanical, Reference Standards, Coronavirus

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