Seyfarth Synopsis: President Biden announced a six-pronged, “comprehensive national strategy” to combat COVID-19, which will include a second OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard requiring vaccines or testing....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Labelling the Delta-variant surge as the “Pandemic of the Unvaccinated,” on August 26, 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Prtizker announced that Illinois residents must wear masks indoors, and that school and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the FDA approved Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA), previously known as Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, to prevent COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 and older. This could be big news for those on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today OSHA updated its Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace to adopt recommendations “analogous” to the July 27, 2021 Centers for Disease Control...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In light of rising cases of COVID-19, the CDC has recently reversed its prior facemask guidance, and has now required that both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals wear masks indoors in areas where...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: President Biden recently laid out his administration’s next steps in efforts to get more Americans vaccinated.
On July 29, 2021, the White House released “Remarks by President Biden Laying Out the Next...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 27, 2021, the CDC revised its mask guidance in response to the burgeoning threat of the COVID-19 Delta variant, recommending that all individuals — including those who are vaccinated — wear masks...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: By ignoring the terms of a settlement agreement it had with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), a New Jersey roofing contractor now faces more than $600,000 in penalties after...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 28, 2021, OSHA published a Compliance Directive, DIR 2021-02 (CPL 02), covering inspection procedures and enforcement policies for the Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19. The new directive...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA Region V has recently adopted an Instruction to establish a Regional Emphasis Program (REP) for conducting inspections of select manufacturing industries with hearing loss rates higher than the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As we approach the heat of the summer season and as employers begin to re-open after months of COVID-19 quarantine, workers may be out of shape, out of practice on workplace safety procedures, and may have...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 21, 2021, the federal register published OSHA’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (“ETS”), focused on the health care industry....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following its June 3, 2021 meeting, when the Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted to approve Cal/OSHA’s controversial revisions to the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), the Board convened an emergency...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 9, 2021, at the tail end of prepared remarks before the House Education and Labor Committee, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh announced – not with a bang, but with a whimper – that OSHA would publish...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) added a section to its COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding respirators and particle size, explaining how N95 respirators effectively...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 3, 2021, the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (OSHSB) voted late in the evening to approve Cal/OSHA’s proposed revised Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The revised ETS...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (OSHSB) was supposed to consider changes to the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on May 20, 2021. But after the CDC published a May 13,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA recently issued additional guidance addressing whether employers need to record an employee’s adverse vaccine reaction on their 300 Log....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On May 18, 2021, OSHA adopted (by reference) CDC’s May 13, 2021 guidance for fully vaccinated individuals in many non-healthcare settings. Specifically, OSHA announced that employers should “refer to the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On May 13, 2021, the CDC announced further updated recommendations for fully vaccinated people in non-healthcare settings....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On May 20, 2021, the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (OSHSB) will consider changes to the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) Rules, and it just posted the changes it will...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Interim Enforcement Guidance for the 2020 Final Beryllium Standards applies to all types of beryllium inspections....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: This week, the State of Oregon issued a final COVID-19 worker protection standard, replacing its temporary rule adopted six months ago. The final rule, effective on May 4th with certain provisions phasing...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 27, 2021, CDC announced updated recommendations for fully vaccinated people in non-healthcare settings (note that on the same day the CDC also posted Updated Healthcare Infection Prevention and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA yesterday issued an additional guidance addressing whether employers need to record adverse vaccine reactions on their 300 Logs....more