Small Business Labor Safety Roundtable on OSHA’s New ETS and General Industry Guidance on COVID-19 – June 24, 2021

Thursday, June 24, 2021, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Time)

Via Teams Webinar

Dear Small Business Representatives:

On June 21, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to protect healthcare workers from contracting COVID-19. The standard focuses on protecting workers in health care settings with 10 or more employees where suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients are treated. This includes employees in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities, as well as emergency responders, home health care workers, and employees in ambulatory care settings where suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients are treated.  OSHA also announced new general industry guidance for the coronavirus that is aligned with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance.  The standard requires non-exempt facilities to conduct a hazard assessment and have a written plan to mitigate virus spread, and requires healthcare employers to provide some employees with N95 respirators or other personal protective equipment.

To discuss this issue, we have scheduled a Small Business Labor Safety Roundtable on OSHA’s New ETS and General Industry Guidance on COVID-19 for Thursday, June 24, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Time).  The meeting will be held via TEAMS Webinar, so please mark your calendars.  The Agenda for the Roundtable is attached, and we are pleased that James (“Jim”) Frederick, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, and key staff will discuss the new OSHA COVID-19 ETS and general industry guidance and answer questions about how the new rule and guidance will impact small entities.                                       . 

The Office of Advocacy takes its direction from small businesses and hosts roundtables to receive input on what issues are of greatest importance.  We need your help, as representatives of small businesses, to set our priorities in the labor safety area.

Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons, with the exception of the press, in order to facilitate an open and frank discussion about small business-related issues.   Agendas and presentations are available to all, including the press.  Anyone who would like to receive roundtable agendas or presentations, or be included in the regular distribution, should forward such requests to bruce.lundegren@sba.gov.  The purpose of these roundtable meetings is to exchange opinions, facts, and information and to obtain the attendees’ individual views and opinions regarding small business concerns.  The meetings are not intended to communicate or achieve any consensus positions of the attendees.