ILMA Compoundings - January 2021 - 32
WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE
COVID-19 Standards
and OSHA Enforcement
Under President Biden
By Matthew Levetown
B
arring some an unforeseen
incident occurring between
the time of writing and
Inauguration Day later this month,
President-elect Joe Biden will be
sworn in as president on Jan. 20, and
one of his administration's first acts is
expected to be creation of a general
nationwide plan to handle the coronavirus pandemic, separate from the
actions of President Donald Trump's
outgoing administration.
32
JANUARY 2021
| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG
One of the first expected actions
is the implementation of an
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) temporary
emergency standard. Even after the
pandemic goes in the country's rearview mirror heading into 2022, OSHA
enforcement is expected to look more
like it did under President Barack
Obama. On the campaign trail, Biden
promised to double the number of
OSHA inspectors - a marked change
from Trump's OSHA, which employed
the lowest number of federal workplace
safety inspectors in 45 years.
While it is too early to theorize about
the longer-term objectives of a Biden
OSHA, aside from more enforcement,
the agency's objectives in 2021 will almost
certainly focus on a possible COVID19 emergency standard and continued
work on OSHA's infectious disease
standard, which was tabled in 2017.
COVID-19 EMERGENCY STANDARD
In general, OSHA enforcement
during the pandemic under the Trump
administration has relied on the
Occupational Safety and Health Act's
General Duty Clause for COVID-19
citations, rather than the creation of
a federal standard. The General Duty
Clause is an obligation for employers
to provide a work environment " free
from recognized hazards that are
causing or are likely to cause death or
serious physical harm. " As the research
on coronavirus changed over the
course of the pandemic, reliance on
the General Duty Clause has posed a
challenge from a stakeholder perspective. Precautions, such as regular
disinfection, mask mandates and social
distancing, go a long way but are no
guarantee against inspections or citations under the new administration.
Unions and employment nonprofits
have sued OSHA to implement an
emergency temporary standard, but
a Court of Appeals in June found
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ILMA Compoundings - January 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings - January 2021
ILMA Compoundings - January 2021 - Cover1
ILMA Compoundings - January 2021 - Cover2
ILMA Compoundings - January 2021 - 1
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