This afternoon, Cal/OSHA adopted
a new set of COVID-19 emergency standards. The revisions to
the regulations specify that vaccinated employees will not need
to wear masks and social distancing will be more in line with CDC
and CDPH guidance. Almost immediately following, Governor Newsom
signed an
Executive Order enabling the revisions to take effect
without the normal 10-day review period by the Office of
Administrative Law.
The new standards were proposed last Friday, June 11, after an
earlier draft was adopted and then quickly rescinded
following significant employer concerns, public and written
comments, including from the CSAC advocacy team.
These newly-adopted standards more appropriately align to
CDPH and CDC masking and social distancing guidance, but still
contains some notable employer requirements including N95 masking
in relation to unvaccinated employees and overall vaccination
documentation. CSAC expects that these issues will likely
be clarified in future Cal/OSHA documents regarding
frequently asked questions.
