JUNE 2021
Occupational Safety & Health Update 2021
WPA’s June webinar featured a presentation by Adele Abrams, Esq., president of The Law Office of Adele L. Abrams PC, and a nationally recognized author and speaker on occupational safety and health issues. As an attorney, she represents companies nationwide in occupational safety, employment, and environmental law. Ms. Abrams also provides safety training (OSHA) and consultation services, including safety and health audits. She has co-authored several books on the subject and writes regular articles for industry magazines including Professional Safety, Pallet Central, Modern Contractor Solutions, and Compliance.
Abrams addressed the complexities and sometimes conflicting guidance offered by various bodies, including CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the OSHA bodies. She noted that 28 states are under federal OSHA while 22 states plus all the territories and Washington DC run independent OSHA progams at the state level.
One recent example of mixed messaging is how to handle workplaces with vaccinated persons. The CDC has stated that vaccinated persons need not wear masks indoors or out. However, it is important to stress that “vaccinated persons” eans two shots of Pfizer or Moderna, or one shot of Johnson & Johnson, plus waiting 14 days. “A lot of employers have jumped on this and said that means we don’t have to wear masks
anymore,” she said, but she cautioned that this only applies to fully vaccinated people.
The CDC guidance is for public safety, she explained, and does not govern the workplace. “It is easy to get confused because the CDC is putting out guidance throughout and OSHA kept referencing CDC guidance, and yet when the rubber meets the road, OSHA can enforce stuff CDC cannot when it comes to workplace safety.”
One thing that the Biden administration has done in the latest OSHA upate is to create a class of what they call at risk workers. Those are individuals who may have been vaccinated, but they have underlying health conditions. For example, they might include those who have had a heart or a liver or kidney
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transplant, or using steroids for a respiratory condition.