OSHA issues updated guidance on protecting unvaccinated, at-risk workers from the coronavirus

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued updated guidance to help employers protect workers from the coronavirus. The updated guidance reflects developments in science and data, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated COVID-19 guidance issued July 27.

The updated guidance expands information on appropriate measures for protecting workers in higher-risk workplaces with mixed-vaccination-status workers, particularly where there is often prolonged close contact with other workers and/or nonworkers, such as manufacturing.

OSHA’s latest guidance:

• Recommends that fully vaccinated workers in areas of substantial or high community transmission wear masks to protect unvaccinated workers.
• Recommends that fully vaccinated workers who have close contacts with people with coronavirus wear masks for up to 14 days unless they have a negative coronavirus test at least three to five days after such contact.
• Clarifies recommendations to protect unvaccinated workers and other at-risk workers in manufacturing, meat and poultry processing, seafood processing, and agricultural processing.
• Links to the latest guidance on K-12 schools and CDC statements on public transit.

OSHA continues to emphasize that vaccination is the optimal step to protect workers and encourages employers to engage with workers and their representatives to implement multilayered approaches to protect unvaccinated or otherwise at-risk workers from the coronavirus.