On January 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new worker safety guidanceto:

• Help employers and workers implement a coronavirus protection program; and
• Identify risks that could lead to exposure and contraction;

The guidance recommends several essential elements in a prevention program:

• Conduct a hazard assessment.
• Identify control measures to limit the spread of the virus.
• Adopt policies for employee absences that don’t punish workers as a way to encourage potentially infected workers to remain home.
• Ensure that coronavirus policies and procedures are communicated to both English and non-English speaking workers.
• Implement protections from retaliation for workers who raise coronavirus-related concerns.

The guidance is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. It contains recommendations as well as descriptions of existing mandatory safety and health standards. The recommendations are advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in recognizing and abating hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm as part of their obligation to provide a safe and healthful workplace.