Pub. 8 2019-2020 Issue 4

PUB YR 8 2019-2020 | ISSUE 4 31 Should workers wear a cloth face covering while at work, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation for all people to do so when in public? OSHA generally recommends that employers encourage workers to wear face coverings at work. Face coverings are intended to prevent wearers who have Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) without knowing it (i.e., those who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic) from spreading potentially infectious respiratory droplets to others. This is known as source control. Consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation for all people towear cloth face coverings when in public and around other people, wearing cloth face coverings, if appropriate for the work environment and job tasks, conserves other types of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as surgical masks, for healthcare settings where such equipment is needed most. Employers have the discretion to determine whether to allow employees to wear cloth face coverings in the workplace based on the specific circumstances present at the worksite. For some workers, employers may determine that wearing cloth face coverings presents or exacerbates a hazard. For example, cloth face coverings could become contaminated with chemicals used in the work environment, causing workers to inhale the chemicals that collect on the face covering. Over the duration of a work shift, cloth face coverings might also become damp (fromworkers breathing) or collect infectious material from the work environment (e.g., droplets of other peoples’ infectious respiratory secretions). Workers may also need to use PPE that is incompatible with the use of a cloth face covering (e.g., an N95 filtering facepiece respirator). Where cloth face coverings are not appropriate in the work environment or during certain job tasks (e.g., because they could become contaminated or exacerbate heart illness), employers can provide PPE, such as face shields or surgical masks, instead of encouraging workers to wear cloth face coverings. Like cloth face coverings, surgical masks and face shields can help contain the wearer’s potentially infectious respiratory droplets and limit the spread of COVID-19 to others. Note that cloth face coverings are not considered PPE and cannot be used in place of respirators when respirators are otherwise required. Learn more about cloth face coverings on the CDC website. Employers should consider evaluating their accessible communication policies and procedures to potentially provide masks with clear windows to facilitate interaction between employees and members of the public who need to lip-read to communicate. If I wear a reusable cloth face covering, how should I keep it clean? CDC provides guidance on washing face coverings. OSHA suggests following those recommendations and always washing or discarding cloth face coverings that are visibly soiled. In general, employers should always rely on a hierarchy of controls that first includes efforts to eliminate or substitute out workplace hazards and then uses engineering controls (e.g., ventilation, wet methods), administrative controls (e.g., written procedures, modification of task duration), and safe work practices to prevent worker exposures to respiratory hazards, before relying on personal protective equipment, such as respirators. When respirators are needed, OSHA’s guidance describes enforcement discretion around the use of respirators, including in situations in which it may be necessary to extend the use of or reuse certain respirators, use respirators beyond their manufacturer’s recommended shelf life or use respirators certified under the standards of other countries or jurisdictions. If respirators are needed but not available (including as described in the OSHA enforcement guidance noted above), and hazards cannot otherwise be adequately controlled through other elements of the hierarchy of controls (i.e., elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and/or safework practices), avoidworker exposure to the hazard. Whenever a hazard presents an imminent danger, and in additional situations whenever feasible, the task should be delayed until feasible control measures are available to prevent exposures or reduce them to acceptable levels (i.e., at or below applicable OSHA permissible exposure limits). Source: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/covid-19-faq.html dl 06112020 1 If surgical masks are being used only as source control—not to protect workers against splashes and sprays (i.e., droplets) containing potentially infectious materials—OSHA’s PPE standards do not require employers to provide them to workers. However, the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety andHealth Act, requires each employer to furnish to each of his employees’ employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Control measuresmay include a combination of engineering and administrative controls, including safe work practices like social distancing. Choosing to ensure the use of surgical masks for source control may constitute a feasible means of abatement as part of a control plan designed to address hazards fromSARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. DISCLAIMER: The contents of this newsletter aremerely for informational purposes only and are not to be considered as legal advice. Employers must consult their lawyers for legal matters and EPA/OSHA consultants for matters related to Environmental, Health & Safety. The article was authored by Sam Celly of Celly Services, Inc. who has been helping automobile dealers comply with EPA and OSHA regulations since 1987. Samreceivedhis B.E. (1984) andMS (1986) inChemical Engineering, followed by a J.D. fromSouthwesternUniversity School of Law (1997). Our newsletters can be accessed at www.epaoshablog.com. Your comments/ questions are always welcome. Please send them to sam@cellyservices.com . Employers have the discretion to determine whether to allow employees to wear cloth face coverings in the workplace based on the specific circumstances present at the worksite.