07/29/2020
July 2020
Cal/OSHA Sets New Guidelines for Workplace Health and Safety During COVID-19
California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) has created COVID-19 guidance documents covering more than 30 industries so that employers can effectively protect and train their workers.
“Protecting employees from workplace hazards is not only required by law, it is also the right thing to do and an essential part of stopping the spread of the virus,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Doug Parker.
These guidelines mandate that employers implement ways to protect workers from hazards, including such issues as COVID-19. Employers must take the following steps:
Modify the worksite so that employees are at least six feet apart, or install barriers when that distance is not possible.
Provide workers with enough time and supplies to disinfect commonly used surfaces and spaces.
Encourage workers to wash their hands in accordance with federal guidelines, and provide them with enough time and supplies to do so properly.
Provide employees with cloth face coverings or allow them to use their own. Employees should be reimbursed for the cost of buying their own masks.
Screen workers for COVID-19 symptoms before each work shift, and recommend that they stay home if they feel sick.
Advise employees of their sick-leave benefits.
Employees, customers, clients and visitors should wear face coverings at all times. If the work is moved outdoors, other possible safety hazards such as heat-related illnesses or insufficient lighting must be taken into account.
In addition to these guidelines, California’s Department of Industrial Relations recommends that the following measures be included in an employer’s written Injury and Illness Protection Program:
Make sure that workers who are out sick with a fever or acute respiratory symptoms don’t return to the job until at least three days pass without fever (without using fever reducing medications) and no respiratory symptoms, and at least 10 days pass since the symptoms first appeared.
Encourage employees to work remotely when possible.
Practice physical distancing by cancelling in-person meetings, and using video or teleconferencing instead.
Avoid shared work items (phones, computers, etc.) when possible.
“As Workers’ Compensation attorneys we understand the need for workplaces to be as safe as possible, and when we are confronted with such an unprecedented hazard as COVID-19, that necessity rises to a new level,” says Sherry Grant, partner in the law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP (GEK). “It is imperative that employers conform to the guidelines outlined by Cal/OSHA, and it is equally as important that employees know what their rights are when it comes to a safe work environment.”
Do I Have a Case?
Contact us for a free, confidential case evaluation.
We will be in touch with you within 48 hours.
Free Case Evaluation
Best Lawyers in 2020
Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey of more than 39,000 leading attorneys.
Super Lawyers in 2020
Only the top five percent of Southern California's lawyers are selected from this annual list.
This publication is a service to our clients and friends. It is designed only to give general information on the developments actually covered. It is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of recent developments in the law, treat exhaustively the subjects covered, provide legal advice or render a legal opinion.
Pursuant to Labor Code Section 5432(a), making a false or fraudulent workers' compensation claim is a felony subject to up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to $50,000 or double the value of the fraud, whichever is greater, or by both imprisonment and fine.
In addition to our office at 3580 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1800, Los Angeles, CA 90010, we have an office in Camarillo to serve the needs of those clients in Ventura County and northwest Los Angeles County. This satellite office is located at 816 Camarillo Springs Road, Suite I, Camarillo, CA 93012. You can reach us there at 805-377-0633. To serve those in Orange County, we have a satellite office in the Xerox Centre, 1851 East First Street, Suite #900, Santa Ana, CA 92705. You can reach us there at 888-764-5501. And, in order to serve those in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, we have an office in the Inland Empire, 3602 Inland Empire Blvd., Suite C-160, Ontario 91764. You can reach us there at 909-752-3528.
