TRSA Provides Critical Intel on OSHA’s COVID-19 ETS
TRSA recently hosted a webinar titled “Understanding OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard Regarding COVID-19 Vaccinations.” The hour-long presentation was designed to offer clarification to linen, uniform and facility services companies on the regulation, and how to comply with the mandate.
Kevin Schwalb, TRSA’s vice president of government relations, hosted the webinar. He was joined by Martine Wells, a partner at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Denver, to help explain the regulation and how it impacts the linen, uniform and facility services industry.
The webinar kicked off with an overview of the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that was released on Nov. 4. The ETS requires employers with 100 or more staff members to get their employees vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022, or require unvaccinated employees to produce a negative test on at least a weekly basis. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in response to a lawsuit filed by various plaintiffs including the Attorney General of Louisiana, issued an order temporarily blocking the ETS on Nov. 6. Click here to read more about the temporary stay order.
While the ETS is temporarily halted, companies should make plans to comply with the order if it is reinstated as it makes its way through the legal system. In addition to requirements for vaccination or negative weekly tests for the unvaccinated, the ETS also requires:
- Companies to pay employees for the time it takes to get vaccinated
- Employers to ensure all unvaccinated employees wear a mask in the workplace
- Employers to meet requirements for reporting and recordkeeping
- Specific compliance dates for employers
Following the presentation, webinar attendees had an opportunity to submit questions regarding the regulation and how it impacts their operations. For more information on the ETS, click here to view the OSHA website. Click here to view the ETS document that recently appeared in the Federal Register. Finally, click here to view a fact sheet on the new rule.
TRSA offers more than 100 industry-specific programs that provide professional development and training on a range of issues, including regulatory/compliance matters, safety, best practices and strategies for enhancing productivity. Go to www.trsa.org/ondemand to visit TRSA’s On-Demand Learning Portal to view this webinar and more.
To review industry-specific resources for linen, uniform and facility services customers, employees and others, as well as advisories and executive orders from state, national and worldwide agencies, visit TRSA’s Coronavirus Resource Center at www.trsa.org/covid19.