OSHA Virus Rule Intended to Cover All Workers, Draft Shows (1)

OSHA’s emergency standard protecting health-care workers from Covid-19 that was issued June 10 after months of anticipation originally was intended to protect all workers, a draft version of the rule obtained by Bloomberg Law showed.

The 780-page draft standard and justification formally submitted to the White House on April 26 made it clear Occupational Safety and Health Administration staff had concluded a “grave danger” threatened the health of all U.S. workers, not just workers in health care who had been deemed essential during the darkest days of the pandemic.

“OSHA has determined that employee exposure to this new hazard, SARS-CoV-2 ...