OSHA Withdraws June ’21 Healthcare ETS; Vaccine Mandate ETS Now Applies More Broadly, Including many AL Settings

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its website to withdraw the non-record keeping portions of the healthcare emergency temporary standards (ETS) issued in June 2021. The ETS is no longer in effect; however, the record keeping requirements in the ETS will continue as they were adopted under another section of the OSHA Act.

OSHA intends to issue a final standard in the coming months that will incorporate much of the June ETS. Meanwhile, OSHA strongly encourages all health care employers to continue to implement the ETS’s requirements and notes they will continue enforcement of COVID safety standards through the general duty clause. For details on the June ETS, see AHCA/NCAL’s summary.

Due to the withdrawal of the June healthcare ETS, health care employers with 100 or more employees
firm- or corporate-wide, including assisted living, nursing or other long term care providers, are now subject to
OSHA’s vaccine mandate ETS

The OSHA vaccine ETS includes an option for testing unvaccinated employees (the CMS IFR does not). OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard. OSHA notes that it plans to work closely with employers to provide compliance assistance.

On Friday, January 7, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments for legal challenges on both the OSHA and CMS vaccine mandates.

We will continue to provide updates on these requirements.

Posted in COVID-19