President Biden issues executive order for OSHA to boost COVID-19 workplace safety
On January 21, 2021, in an effort to provide enforcement of more stringent worker safety standards, President Biden issued an Executive Order (‘EO”) on Protecting Worker Health and Safety.
Referring to the health and safety of workers as being a “national priority and a moral imperative,” the Protective Worker Health and Safety Executive Order states that the federal government must provide “science-based guidance to help keep workers safe from COVID-19 exposure, including with respect to mask-wearing; partnering with State and local governments to better protect public employees; enforcing worker health and safety requirements; and pushing for additional resources to help employers protect employees.” Updated guidance from OSHA must be released by the Labor Secretary (Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has been tapped by Biden for the role) within two weeks while any emergency temporary standards that are deemed necessary, such as the compulsory wearing of masks in the workplace, must be implemented by March 15.