News & Analysis as of August 29, 2025

Health and Safety

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Read guidance, analysis, and updates on the myriad issues arising from the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Updated hourly every day, the insights published here are written by leading lawyers and law firms helping to make sense of insurance, employment, tax, securities, M&A, risk management, and every other consideration touched by this crisis. Follow the channel for a daily email brief of the latest and best updates. less -

OSHA Key Player in DOL Deregulation Wave: A Snapshot of Workplace Safety Initiatives and What Employers Should Do Next

Fisher Phillips on 7/16/2025

OSHA just issued a heap of new proposed rules and took other agency actions as part of broader deregulatory efforts at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) – which are being called one of the most ambitious federal red tape...more

Virginia revokes COVID-19 workplace safety standard

Hogan Lovells on 3/25/2022

Effective March 23, 2022, the Virginia occupational safety and health standard on COVID-19 (the Standard) has been revoked. The Standard established protocols that Virginia employers were required to follow to control,...more

The COVID-19 ETS Is Gone, But Employers Must Still Take and Implement Workplace Protections – or Fail at Their Peril

Foley & Lardner LLP on 1/25/2022

As the entire country should know by now, on January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued an Opinion reinstating the stay of enforcement by OSHA of its Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 (ETS). You can...more

OSHA's Revised COVID-19 Guidance Adopts CDC's Latest Recommendation on Masks for Vaccinated Employees, Advocates for Vaccination,...

Bracewell LLP on 8/17/2021

In response to the modified COVID-19 recommendations published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 27, 2021, on Friday, August 13, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)...more

Requiring Fully-Vaccinated Employees to Mask: OSHA Issues Less-Than-Clear Updated COVID-19 Guidance in the Wake of the CDC’s...

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 8/16/2021

On August 13, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its updated COVID-19 guidance to account for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) July 27, 2021, guideline...more

OSHA Issues Revised COVID-19 Guidance on Protecting Workers

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 6/22/2021

On June 10, 2021, OSHA released a revised version of its Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace (“Workplace Guidance”). This Guidance was issued simultaneously with...more

OSHA Issues COVID-19 Standard for Healthcare Employers

Akerman LLP - HR Defense on 6/16/2021

OSHA has issued a 916-page COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) setting forth a myriad of requirements for covered healthcare entities, including implementation of a comprehensive COVID-19 plan identifying...more

Your State No Longer Requires Face Coverings in the Workplace – But Should You Continue To Mandate Them?

Fisher Phillips on 5/10/2021

As the COVID-19 pandemic (mercifully) starts to retreat, many states have begun rolling back face-covering mandates, which often relieve employers of the obligation to require masks for employees and visitors in the...more

OSHA Implements COVID National Emphasis Program

Robinson+Cole Manufacturing Law Blog on 3/22/2021

As a part of its ongoing efforts to increase workplace attention on COVID-19, OSHA recently released a new COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (NEP), signaling a commitment to expand its inspection and enforcement efforts to...more

OSHA’s New National Emphasis Program For COVID-19

Amundsen Davis LLC on 3/16/2021

In response to an executive order signed by President Biden in January, OSHA recently launched a new national emphasis program focusing enforcement efforts on industries and employers most impacted by COVID-19. The...more

Texas Governor Ends COVID-19 Restrictions, but Employers May Want to Remember OSH Act’s General Duty Clause

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 3/5/2021

On March 2, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued Executive Order No. 34 (GA-34), rescinding most of his earlier executive orders related to COVID-19, including the statewide mask mandate and business occupancy...more

[Virtual Event] Unprecedented: The State of Labor Relations and Employment Law Master Class - OSHA Compliance in the Midst of a...

BakerHostetler on 3/3/2021

Please join us for BakerHostetler’s Unprecedented: The State of Labor Relations and Employment Law Master Class. Our 8th Annual Master Class will be virtual, due to the pandemic, and it will still offer all new high-level...more

U.S. COVID-19: OSHA Issues Guidance Addressing Mitigation and Prevention of COVID-19 in the Workplace

BCLP on 2/3/2021

As part of President Biden’s first executive actions, on January 21, 2021, the president ordered the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) to issue new science-based guidance to protect workers and...more

Federal OSHA Issues New COVID-19 Guidance

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 2/3/2021

In what it is referring to as “stronger worker safety guidance,” last Friday the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published its new guidance on COVID-19, titled “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and...more

OSHA Issues “Stronger” Guidance on COVID-19 in the Workplace

Ruder Ware on 2/2/2021

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a new, “stronger” Guidance on identifying and preventing coronavirus exposure risks in the workplace. Although this is labeled a “Guidance” and OSHA says...more

Signaling More Aggressive Enforcement Going Forward, OSHA Issues "Stronger" COVID-19 Guidance For Workplaces

Bracewell LLP on 2/2/2021

Just eight days after President Biden ordered OSHA to publish “revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the agency complied this past Friday, January 29, with the release of a 12-page...more

OSHA Posts New Guidance On Mitigating And Preventing The Spread Of COVID-19 In The Workplace

Husch Blackwell LLP on 2/1/2021

On January 29, 2021, OSHA posted new guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. The latest OSHA guidance standardizes a new name for employer policies: “COVID-19 Prevention Program.” In the...more

Got N95s? Respiratory Protection Leads OSHA’s Most Commonly Cited Standards Related to COVID-19

Franczek P.C. on 12/10/2020

At the outset of the pandemic, many employers were unsure of how OSHA would conduct inspections and issue citations regarding COVID-19 related issues. Early guidance from OSHA indicated that regulatory standards could be...more

CDC Guidance on Workplace Violence in Retail Associated with COVID-19, Customer Face Mask Enforcement

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 8/27/2020

Seyfarth Synopsis: The CDC published guidance aimed at assisting retail and service companies in limiting workplace violence against or involving their employees that may be associated with enforcing face mask mandates and...more

Healthcare Employers Beware! OSHA Cracks The Whip And Issues Second Coronavirus Citation

Fisher Phillips on 7/24/2020

Reports of increased deaths and hospitalizations of nursing home employees infected with COVID-19 have prompted unprecedented numbers of federal and state workplace safety inspections at healthcare facilities. Just this week,...more

OSHA Recommends Mandatory Use of Face Masks at Work

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 7/10/2020

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in many parts of the U.S., a growing number of states and municipalities have implemented orders requiring the use of masks in public. Last week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health...more

OSHA Publishes Frequently Asked Questions On COVID-19

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 7/9/2020

On July 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a set of Frequently Asked Questions related to COVID-19. The FAQs do not appear to provide any new guidance, but are grouped by topic for easier reference...more

OSHA Issues Guidance for Non-Essential Businesses to Safely Return to Work

Jackson Walker on 6/23/2020

On June 17, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its Guidance on Returning to Work (“Guidance”). While there is no OSHA standard specific to COVID-19, the General Duty Clause creates a...more

COVID-19: OSHA Issues New Guidance for Reopening Non-Essential Businesses

WilmerHale on 6/23/2020

On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new COVID-19 related guidance to assist businesses deemed “non-essential” as they reopen their workplaces. The...more

OSHA weighs in on use of face coverings, including non-PPE, in the workplace

McAfee & Taft on 6/18/2020

On June 10, 2020, OSHA issued a series of questions and answers regarding the use of face coverings in the workplace... Cloth face coverings - OSHA stated that cloth face coverings are those face coverings that are...more

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