Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION APRIL 29, 2020 Page 3 New OSHA Requirements for Portable Sanitation…continued from page 1 Continued on page 17 For decades, long-standing OSHA standards have required portable toilets and hand washing facilities on most job sites where sewered facilities are not available. Since February, COVID-19 precautions and directives have been communicated by various levels of government, and portable sanitation operators are hearing about "new" OSHA standards. When someone says this, one or more of the following things is likely true: • The person making the statement was unaware of the existing standards and thinks they are new. • The person making the statement is referring to guidance specific to protecting workers from COVID-19 (see next section), is not clear there is a difference between a "standard" and agency "guidance," and is mistakenly using the words interchangeably. • The person is trying to make a case for or against a point of view and is offering uniformed or untrue statements to bolster his or her position. OSHA Has Issued Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 Find the guidance here or in the PSAI's COVID-19 Resource Center. When a government agency like OSHA issues guidance, its purpose is to inform the public and provide direction on how to interpret and apply existing standards under a given set of conditions. The guidance does not create new permanent requirements. In the case of the current guidance on preparing workplaces for COVID-19, OSHA is relying on its General Duty Clause as the foundation for its direction—just as it does for every OSHA standard. The General Duty Clause has the force of law, and it says that employers must furnish to each worker: "… 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." Because of this language and the unique circumstances presented by COVID-19, OSHA's guidance goes further than existing standards. For example, the current OSHA standard does not cover tissues, trash cans, or hand sanitizer. The COVID-19 guidance does cover these things because they are an essential part of preventing the spread of the virus. In practice, employers should meet or exceed the guidelines laid out in OSHA's COVID-19 guidance. Although it is not a "standard," the guidance document provides a pathway to satisfying the minimum requirements of the law as expressed in the General Duty Clause. If someone should get sick or hurt and an employer was not following OSHA's guidance, the burden would be on the employer to prove that the firm had met the requirements of the General Duty Clause some other way. Following only the pre-existing standard may not be enough.

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