IWLA Comments on COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard

IWLA joined with the Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS) in comments to express concern and disapproval of OSHA’s drafting and issuance of the COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS). CWS is a working group of influential associations and employers committed to improving workplace safety through cooperation, assistance, transparency, clarity, and accountability with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other stakeholders.

In comment, CWS cited provisions of the ETS rule that exceeded OSHA’s statutory authority and criticized the agency for lacking transparency and neglecting to gather meaningful input from employers and the public regarding the best approach to protect workers from occupational exposure to COVID-19. The coalition also criticized OSHA for failing to properly establish a “grave danger” necessitating an ETS, to consider the impact of vaccinations in the grave danger analysis, and to include supporting evidence demonstrating the ETS’s economic feasibility.

The CWS concluded comment by disagreeing that circumstances warrant the issuance of the ETS. The CWS called on OSHA to perform a more realistic economic analysis and to remove provisions exceeding the agency’s authority if the standard is made permanent.

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