On November 19, 2020, California’s Department of Industrial Relations Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (“Board”) adopted a general safety order that, in effect, creates an emergency temporary standard specific to potential workplace coronavirus (“COVID-19”) exposures (“COVID-19 Prevention Rule” or “Rule”). While not the first state to adopt an emergency temporary standard (see our earlier posts on new requirements in Michigan, Oregon, and Virginia), California’s COVID-19 Prevention Rule is unique in that it is performance based and adds to the host of requirements imposed by the state’s public health departments. As a result, California employers need to ensure their efforts to manage COVID-19 heed both the new COVID-19 Prevention Rule and state and local public health department orders. The state’s Division of Occupational Safety & Health (“Cal OSHA”) will administer and enforce the COVID-19 Prevention Rule, which is codified in Section 3205 of California’s Code of Regulations, and goes into effect on January 1, 2021.

Read the full post on Jackson Lewis OSHA Law Blog.