Release of OSHA Virus Safety Rule Stalled as Details Ironed Out

The federal government’s workplace safety agency has drafted its first rule to protect workers against contracting Covid-19 on the job, but whether and when it would be released was unclear Monday afternoon.

Last week, ahead of the March 15 deadline President Joe Biden set for an emergency temporary standard, U.S. Labor Department officials informed multiple business groups that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration had decided to issue a rule, which would set new infection prevention requirements for employers, said three sources familiar with the process.

DOL also told the groups the standard was to have been submitted to the ...