OSHA previously issued guidance on preparing workplaces for COVID-19, which we covered on the blog a few weeks ago. The agency has been busy issuing additional materials to guide employers through these uncharted waters. A few recent developments are summarized below:

Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

OSHA has confirmed that COVID-19 can be a recordable work-related

Thank you to my colleague, Jonathan Schaefer, for this post. Jon focuses his practice on environmental compliance counseling, occupational health and safety, permitting, site remediation, and litigation related to federal and state regulatory programs.

Today OSHA issued a final rule approving two additional quantitative fit testing protocols for inclusion in appendix A of the Respiratory Protection Standard. These protocols are:

  1. The modified ambient aerosol condensation nuclei counter (CNC) quantitative fit testing protocol for full-facepiece and half-mask elastomeric respirators; and
  2. The modified ambient aerosol CNC quantitative fit testing protocol for filtering facepiece respirators.

Both protocols are variations of the original OSHA-approved ambient aerosol CNC protocol, but have fewer test exercises, shorter exercise duration, and a more streamlined sampling sequence. The new rule becomes effective September 26, 2019.
Continue Reading OSHA Approves New Respiratory Fit Testing Protocols