Virginia Worker Safety Panel Recommends Axing Covid-19 Rule (2)

Virginia should withdraw its first-in-the nation Covid-19 worker protection rule, the state’s Safety and Health Codes Board decided Wednesday.

The board’s 7-3 vote followed the recommendation of Virginia Occupational Safety and Health, which concluded a “grave danger” to workers no longer existed and the standard, first passed as emergency rule in July 2020, was no longer legally justified. All but one of the 10 members voting were appointed by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, whose four-year term expired Jan. 15.

Virginia is among the 21 states the federal government has approved to regulate worker safety.

The board’s decision is far from ...