OSHA to CDC: We hear you, dawg. We’ll update our face mask guidance too.

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Dawg, Eric?

Clearly, I’ve been watching too many American Idol and Pimp My Ride reruns.

Psst, I can still hook you up.

More on the OSHA news in a sec. But, let’s talk about Wednesday’s Special Edition of The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Hour first,

Look, I told you that this would be a hot ticket. But, here’s the deal. You can still register to join me and my FisherBroyles partners Gordon BergerAmy Epstein Gluck, and David Renner on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, from 12 – 1 PM ET on Zoom for a deep dive into the CDC’s new case mask guidance. My high falutin’ Zoom Pro account allows for 500 attendees. And, inevitably, some of the registrants will no-show.

(Perhaps my dad registered 450 times under 450 aliases. Who knows?)

Please register for The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Hour by clicking here. Then sharpen up your elbows and be one of the first 500 at the event, and you’re good to go! Or bribe me, and I’ll save you a seat. It’s called capitalism. U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

New OSHA guidance is coming soon.

If you’re like me and hit refresh a few times each day on OSHA’s Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace

… we need help, you and I.

Since January, OSHA has told us not to distinguish between workers who are vaccinated and those who are not:

Workers who are vaccinated must continue to follow protective measures, such as wearing a face covering and remaining physically distant, because at this time, there is not evidence that COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission of the virus from person-to-person. The CDC explains that experts need to understand more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide before deciding to change recommendations on steps everyone should take to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

But, that was before the CDC’s new case mask guidance. Now, …

***refresh refresh refresh***

I’m expecting some news soon.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance relating to recommended precautions for people who are fully vaccinated, which is applicable to activities outside of healthcare and a few other environments. OSHA is reviewing the recent CDC guidance and will update our materials on this website accordingly. Until those updates are complete, please refer to the CDC guidance for information on measures appropriate to protect fully vaccinated workers.”

(Technically, the “CDC recommends [employees and supervisors] a cloth face covering as a measure to contain the wearer’s respiratory droplets and help protect others.” Although, that guidance was last updated in April and could change in light of last Thursday’s unmasked bombshell.)

It’s been a minute since we got anything new of OSHA, the DOL generally, or the EEOC in terms of new COVID-19 guidance. Hopefully, OSHA’s movement begins a trend.

In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for a bunch of employment lawyers and me on Zoom on Wednesday.

 

 

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