Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2020 Page 8 OSHA Standards and Enforcement Expected in 2021…continued from page 7 TIP: Pay attention to OSHA advisory committees' work and comment on open questions when asked. It's an easy way to get portable sanitation on the radar at OSHA. 4. Increase General Duty Clause Citations for COVID-19 Violations of CDC Guidelines Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and most state OSHA plans, employers must furnish "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 to his employees." This is known as OSHA's General Duty Clause (GDC). OSHA can cite employers for violation of the GDC if a recognized serious hazard exists in their workplace and the employer does not take reasonable steps to prevent or abate the hazard. The GDC is used only where there is no OSHA standard that applies to the particular hazard, like the COVID-19 pandemic. The elements of a violation of the GDC are: • the employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which employees of that employer were exposed; • the hazard was recognized; • the hazard was causing or was likely to cause death or serious physical harm; and • there was a feasible and useful method to correct the hazard. During the H1N1 pandemic, the Obama administration tasked OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with issuing detailed guidance for how employers should protect their workers. OSHA then enforced the CDC guidelines using the GDC as an enforcement tool. So far, the number of GDC citations issued by OSHA during the COVID-19 pandemic has been minimal. Some members of Congress have suggested that OSHA is "missing in action," and leaders on both sides of the aisle have called for an enforceable Emergency Temporary Standard or ETS. After the inauguration, it is likely that the Biden administration will immediately begin issuing more GDC citations if employers violate CDC guidelines for health and safety concerns related to the ongoing pandemic. These citations can begin immediately, even before an ETS is issued. And even if an ETS is not published, expect increased enforcement under the GDC. TIP: Don't hope this goes away or doesn't affect you and your customers. It will. Look at the tips above under #1 and also read #5 below. It's going to be a new day for employers. Whatever that means for how you protect your own employees—and we'll keep you informed as we learn more—it also means changes for your customers. You can leverage these changes to raise standards on job sites, increase revenue, and be a more active partner with your customers. Continued on page 11

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