
A growing body of evidence supports the idea that wearing a mask in public significantly reduces the spread of a disease like COVID-19, even when you feel well. People can be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, so wearing a mask is less about protecting yourself and more about protecting others.
But the jury is still out as to whether they are effective in the work place. The ergonomics of work itself would lead to the skepticism of the effectiveness. Particularly in work sites where employees are working in very close quarters, engaged in heavy industrial work, or in work places where leadership is weak and do not typically concerning themselves with safety issues. I’m referring to those organizations that where the demographic is typically younger aged workers, i.e. retail, fast food, etc.…
With the leftover effects of the Obama administration from the affordable health care act of systematically destroying the traditional 40-hour full time job and making a thing of the past. Many employers in these industries just don’t have the infrastructure, leadership, or consistency in place. The turnover rates are high and the quality of the work force entering those jobs are nomadic at best.
Moreover OSHA has yet to issue clear and concise guidance for the protective measures employers should take. OSHA doesn’t consider cloth face coverings (whether homemade or commercially produced) to be PPE. They don’t protect employees from airborne infectious agents because of their loose fit and lack of seal or adequate filtration.
Therefore, employers that require employees to wear them don’t have to comply with 29 CFR 1910.132, so they think. If an employer recommends or requires surgical masks or respirators to be worn, cloth face coverings aren’t an adequate substitute. They may be disposable or reusable with proper washing.
According to OSHA’s new guidance states you may choose to require cloth face coverings as part of a control plan designed to reduce COVID-19’s hazards. What it does not say is the many states code enforcement departments or health departments are however requiring the use. It is painfully obvious that the OSHA's leadership is out of touch with the states. Leaving employees frustrated and employers vulnerable to arbitrary enforcement action. Make no mistake if there is way to link COVID-19 illness as work related and it results in a hospitalization or worse a fatality, OSHA will descend upon your work place and issue citations as well as the ever slightly effective enforcement tool, the press release.
In fact, OSHA goes on to recommend you encourage employees to wear cloth face coverings at work as a means of source control—that is, to prevent an infected person from inadvertently spreading the coronavirus. So, you have the discretion to allow employees to wear the coverings. The guidance notes wearing them may sometimes create a hazard, such as when an employee wears a mask that contains the virus or has some workplace chemical on it. Even if employees wear cloth face coverings, the guidance states you should still enforce social-distancing requirements.
Surgical Masks
One of the FAQ responses seems to give employers some control in determining the purpose for which they may require surgical masks to be worn. It initially states the surgical masks “are” used to protect workers against splashes and sprays (i.e., droplets) containing potentially infectious materials.
Guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates one way of transmitting the virus is from respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. Although the OSHA guidance doesn’t reference the CDC guidance and isn’t clear, OSHA is likely referring to the same kinds of droplets in its guidance.
In that capacity, OSHA says surgical masks are considered PPE. The agency also notes if the masks are used only for source control and not to protect workers from splashes and sprays, they are not considered PPE. The footnote then states the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s (OSH Act) General Duty Clause requires employers to provide workplaces free of recognized hazards likely to result in death or serious harm, and choosing to ensure the use of surgical masks may be considered a feasible means of source control under the clause.
OSHA’s guidance states up front that surgical masks are PPE when used to protect the wearer from splashes and sprays, the footnote indicates it’s up to the employer to determine the purpose of their use:
· If the surgical masks are used to protect the wearer, they are PPE.
· If an employer determines they’re used only to protect others from being infected by the wearer, they are not PPE but rather an administrative source control.
Because of loose fit and lack of a seal or adequate filtration, surgical masks won’t protect the wearer from airborne transmissible infectious agents, according to the guidance.
Filtering Facepiece Respirators are used to protect workers from inhaling small particles, including airborne transmissible or aerosolized infectious agents. When respirators are necessary to protect a worker, the employer must comply with 29 CFR 1910.134, the respiratory protection standard, according to the guidance.
When the employer provides filtering facepiece respirators but their use is voluntary, employees must be given the information found in Appendix D of the respiratory protection standard. There are no other compliance obligations, such as a medical evaluation.
Although the FAQ is helpful in understanding federal OSHA's enforcement of its own standards, it does not analyze the patchwork of state and local guidance and orders regarding when face coverings are and are not required, which are constantly evolving. In addition, while private employers in approximately half of the country's jurisdictions are subject to federal OSHA, the other half of the country is subject to state-specific workplace safety and health regulatory schemes and enforcement agencies. These "state plans" may follow federal OSHA (and often do), but may also have their own requirements. It’s a little thing commonly referred to state’s rights. It is indicative of the lack of a working relationship between OSHA and local state and local governments.
In determining what face coverings and other protective measures are appropriate, employers must remain up to date on local obligations.
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