OSHA issued updated guidance on September 30th mandating that employer must report any work-related COVID-19 employee death to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration within eight hours of learning about it.
The OSHA guidance also mandated that employers must report in-patient hospitalizations related to workplace exposure to COVID if the hospitalization "occurs within twenty-four (24) hours of the work-related incident.” By "incident" OSHA states it mean any workplace exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
OSHA has rightly received a great deal of criticism for its slow and lackadaisical response to the COVID work crisis. Earlier this year a group of unions sued OSHA to try to force the agency to do its job protecting workers by issuing temporary emergency workplace standards. Unfortunately, the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit declined the motion to force OSHA to take action, stating that the agency was entitled to considerable deference under the law.
OSHA has urged workers to "immediately" report retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions and reminded employers that it is illegal to take adverse employment actions against workers who report unsafe and unhealthy working conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
