OSHA issues a new Emergency Temporary Standard.

Given COVID-19’s resurgence, OSHA’s new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is particularly applicable to your practice, as its goal is to protect health care workers and their rights concerning potential occupational exposure to COVID-19.

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to comply with ETS rules and keep staff safe.

1. Learn about the standard.

Visit OSHA’s ETS website (tinyurl.com/OPCOVIDETS ) to learn more.

2. Determine if ETS applies to your practice.

For example, ETS does not apply to “… non-hospital ambulatory care settings where all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter those settings.”¹ In other words, a doctor’s office is not covered by ETS if it:

• Screens all patients before entry and doesn’t admit patients who failed the screening, and
• Checks that all employees are either vaccinated or screened, denying entry to those suspected or confirmed for COVID exposure.

OSHA’s ETS website has a decision-making tree available to help determine if your practice is covered under the ETS as well as a recommended employee screening tool and return-to-work flowcharts. If you determine your practice is not covered, document your ETS applicability evaluation well and continue to follow your current policies and procedures, along with CDC recommendations around COVID-19 safety.

3. Work toward compliance.

If you are covered under ETS, work toward compliance as soon as possible and document your efforts along the way. A base requirement of the ETS is a COVID-19 Plan (see “COVID-19 Plan Template” at: osha.gov/coronavirus/ets ).

The COVID-19 Plan must:

• Be written, if the practice has more than 10 employees, and developed for each location
• Designate a safety coordinator to implement and monitor the Plan
• Conduct a workplace-specific hazard assessment
• Include procedures to determine vaccination status if the Plan is dependent on employees’ fully vaccinated status
• Contain input from non-managerial employees and their representatives
• Allow the safety coordinator to update the Plan as needed
• Include procedures to add any hazards identified.

The government is and will continue to conduct National Public Health Emergency policy-related audits around COVID safety guidelines. The OSHA ETS website has detailed information on the COVID-19 Plan to aid practices in ETS compliance and documentation. In addition, ETS inspection instructions for OSHA auditors are publicly available.¹

Remember, all practices where patient care is provided, whether covered by ETS or not, must limit and monitor points of entry, screen, and triage all those entering the practice, as well as comply with the CDC’s COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations.²

Do the right things.

Do a self-evaluation concerning coverage under the ETS, and document your status. Afterward, take any necessary steps to become compliant as soon as possible.

Remember, documenting efforts to investigate and work toward compliance is always an excellent first step in proving the practice’s intent to do the right things, in the right way. OP

REFERENCES:

1. OSHA. Inspection Procedures for the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard. https://tinyurl.com/ycfffd3k Accessed Sept. 7, 2021.
2. CDC. COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic. https://tinyurl.com/45k9aahb . Accessed September 3, 2021.