On the last day of ASSP’s in-person show in Austin, Jim Frederick, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, spoke to attendees on COVID-19 and OSHA’s current priorities.

- The National Safety Council (NSC), the nation’s leading workplace safety advocate, urged all employers to implement a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for their workers and unveiled a guide outlining four levels of requirements for various workplace risk profiles.

AIHA voices its support for employers who find innovative ways to encourage vaccination among workers or develop workable programs to mandate vaccination in the workforce where warranted

OSHA on August 13, 2021 issued updated guidance to help employers protect workers from the coronavirus. The updated guidance reflects developments in science and data, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated COVID-19 guidance issued July 27.

In February 2020, amid growing concerns of the novel coronavirus, one forward-looking French fashion designer, Marine Serre, had her models wear facemasks that matched their trendy ensembles on the catwalk at Paris’ Fashion Week. Fast forward to today. So much has changed in the last year and a half. Facemasks have become the norm to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while the world continues to try and rebound while also preparing for new variants of the deadly virus.

It’s not yet common for companies to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. However, with the Delta variant spreading rapidly in the United States and elsewhere, there’s a growing number of companies taking that route. Here are five of the related manufacturing and industrial organizations doing it and the specifics associated with each.

In 2021, OSHA released COVID safety guidelines for meat plants and other food processing facilities — but stopped short of making them mandatory. The agency recommends using certain safety measures, such as face coverings and paid time off for employees to receive vaccinations. However, it does not require employers to follow these rules or produce written hazard analyses or safety plans.

On July 26, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough announced he will make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for Title 38 VA health care personnel — including physicians, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists, registered nurses, physician assistants, expanded-function dental auxiliaries and chiropractors — who work in Veterans Health Administration facilities, visit VHA facilities or provide direct care to those VA serves.