New OSHA Guidance Recommends Three-Phase Business Reopening

As businesses reopen, employers should be developing and implementing procedures for monitoring the health of their workers and preventing Covid-19 infections, OSHA said in new guidance released Thursday.

The information, Guidance on Returning to Work, calls for a three-phase reopening that allows workers at higher risk of severe illnesses to telework or have other accommodations while conditions are too hazardous for unrestricted business operations. The new guidance is an addition to industry-specific advice OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already issued.

Employers should consider limiting the number of people in the workplace during the first phase in order to maintain strict social-distancing practices, such as staying at least six feet apart, the guidance said.

For phase two, employers can ease limitations on the number of people in the workplace, but should continue to enforce social-distancing practices. The third phase would be a return to unrestricted operations.

Reopening efforts also can include work-site testing of workers for the coronavirus and temperature checks. OSHA said, however, that if an employer implements a medical screening program, the documents may trigger the agency’s medical records rule, which requires records to be held for at least 30 years and kept confidential.

The guidance also reminds employers that they’ll need to conduct a hazard assessment to determine whether personal protection equipment, such as gloves and respirators, are needed. If PPE is needed but not available, the work tasks must be discontinued, the guidance advised.