California Worker Safety Regulators Approve Covid-19 Rule

California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board has approved an emergency Covid-19 rule that likely will take effect in the most populous U.S. state next month.

The approval, by a 6-0 vote Thursday, came six months after worker advocates petitioned the board and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly called Cal/OSHA, to enact virus-specific protections for the state’s approximately 19 million workers.

The rule’s core requirement is that employers must implement an effective Covid-19 prevention program. Those measures can be merged into the employer’s existing injury and illness prevention program, according to the terms of the measure. ...