Cal/OSHA has recently released their permanent COVID-19 Non-Emergency Regulation. This regulation has been several years in the making, and has some changes moving forward including:
- The Non-Emergency Regulation will be in effect for a minimum of 2 years from the effective date of 02/03/23
- Records must be maintained for a minimum of 3 years from the effective date
- The definition of “Close-Contacts” still follows California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) definition, and any updates to the CDPH definition will automatically be applied for Cal/OSHA
- For indoor spaces of 400,000 or fewer cubic feet per floor, a close contact is anyone sharing the same indoor airspace for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.
- For indoor spaces of greater than 400,000 cubic feet per floor, a close contact means being within six feet of the COVID-19 case for 15 minutes over a 24-hour period.
- The permanent regulation changes the ETS definition of “returned case” to now include only a 30-day period (rather than a 90-day period) following the onset of symptoms or a positive test.
- The definition of “infectious period” has been updated
- For COVID-19 cases with symptoms, the infectious period is measured from two days before the onset of symptoms until 10 days have passed (or five days if the employee tests negative on day five or later) and 24 hours have passed without a fever.
- For COVID-19 cases without symptoms, you’ll measure from two days before the test specimen was collected through 10 days (or through day five if the employee tests negative on day five or later).
- Major Outbreaks must be reported to Cal/OSHA
There have also been some notable exclusions in the Non-Emergency Regulation including:
- Daily screening of employees is no longer required
- Exclusion pay for COVID-19 related illness has been eliminated
- Notice requirements have changed regarding positive COVID-19 cases on the worksite, allowing you to place a singular notice at a worksite vs having to notify all employees individually who had been present; written notice may still be provided individually at an employer’s discretion
- Cal/Osha is no longer requiring employers to report cases to local public health, but your local public health department still might require it!
- You no longer have to maintain records of “Close-Contacts”
With all these changes, we are recommending that you take some time to review the COVID-19 Non-Emergency Regulation, as well as the FAQ sheet released by Cal/Osha. These will need to be updated and added in your Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP).
Please feel free to reach out to your Account Manager or our Member Services Dept so that we can help you better understand how these changes will affect your district.