OSHA To Do More (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1 )
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safety requirements, has increased the risk of OSHA vio- lations,” says Gary Heppner, a California-based indepen- dent OSHA safety advisor (riskmanagementaudits.com). He added that inspectors will be looking closely at how businesses are spacing personnel, mandating masks and cleaning the work environment. OSHA is taking greater interest in machine shops, an environment with high accident rates, according to Hep- pner. Here Covid is having an effect: Workers, long re- quired to wear safety glasses while using drill presses or hand drills, are now expected to add face shields and maintain appropriate distances from others. That can be difficult in restricted environments where people are work- ing in close quarters. Any resulting laxity in safety consid- erations can spark illnesses and OSHA citations. OSHA Mandates Most employers want their workers to be safe and healthy. And given the higher OSHA profile, businesses will be making a special effort to meet state and federal standards. That means conforming to the “General Duty Clause” of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, requir- ing workplaces “free from recognized hazards that are
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causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees.” While the imprecise nature of the general duty clause allows leeway for employers to account for varying local conditions, it also leaves plenty of room for inspectors to find unexpected violations. The lack of specific guidelines prompted OSHA to issue a comprehensive guidance doc- ument earlier this year. “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace” lists steps employers can take to reduce po- tential spread. (Businesses can access the document at osha.gov/coronavirus ). Although the new guidelines are advisory in nature, OSHA observers expect specific regulations soon. “OSHA will likely issue an emergency temporary standard for workplaces,” says Foulke. This standard will carry the force of law and employers will be fined for non-compliance with its terms. How strict will the regulations be? That is still to be seen. “The emergency temporary standard is not expect- ed to be as employer averse as the OSHA regulations in
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March 22, 2021
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