Oregon OSHA Plans COVID-19 Training Rule

[UPDATE 11/09/2020] 
Oregon's Final Rule to protect workers from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in the workplace takes effect on November 16, 2020 and contains four key deadlines for employers. Read the Final Rule.

[UPDATE 10/27/2020] 
Oregon OSHA issued a fourth revised draft of the state’s COVID-19 Temporary Standard for employers on October 23, 2020.

The draft rule imposes COVID-19 protection measures—social distancing, signage, facemasks and personal protective equipment, sanitation, planning, employee training, and more—that all workplaces must employ to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at their establishment(s).

Oregon OSHA intends to adopt this rule next week, with an effective date of Sunday, November 1, 2020.

The first draft of the temporary standard, released in August, covered three categories of employers: All workplaces, workplaces at “heightened risk,” and workplaces at “exceptional risk.” The revised draft removes the middle category and enhances the requirements for “all employers” and “employers at exceptional risk.”

Exposure risk assessments, for example, were required only for “heightened risk” workplaces in the August draft. In the revised policy, exposure risk assessments are required for all employers (see subsection 3(h)).

For workplaces at exceptional risk, the August draft required an “infection control plan.” The revised draft requires “infection control training” as well as a Plan.

Read Oregon OSHA’s revised COVID-19 Temporary Standard here for more details on what you must do to protect employees and the public at your workplace.

Oregon Workplaces at Exceptional Risk

Oregon OSHA’s draft rule defines an “exceptional risk” workplace a workplace where one or more employees (including temp or part-time employees) perform one or any combination these job duties:  

• Direct patient care or environmental decontamination services in a healthcare setting;
• Aerosol-generating healthcare or postmortem procedures;
• Emergency first responder activities;
• Handling, packaging, cleaning, processing, or transporting human remains or human tissue specimens of lab cultures collected from an individual suspected or known to have COVID-19.

To achieve compliance with the new temporary standard, employers at "exceptional risk" workplaces must provide Infection control training that covers topics including but not limited to: 

• The modes of COVID-19 transmission (i.e., contact, droplet, and airborne), how workers can recognize hazardous activities that may involve exposure to COVID-19 and how to minimize exposure;
• Basic behavioral, physiological, demographic, and environmental risk factors associated with COVID-19 transmission;
• The use and limitations of COVID-19 hazard control measures implemented by the employer;
• The types, use, removal, handling, and maintenance of face coverings and personal protective equipment (including respirators) provided by the employer; and
• The employer’s sanitation policies and procedures

Revised Oregon COVID-19 Rule (September 25, 2020) 
First Draft of Oregon's COVID-19 Rule (August 17, 2020) 

COVID-19 Safety Awareness Online Training

Lion just launched the COVID-19 Employee Safety Awareness Online Course to help US workplaces re-open safely. As facilities nationwide begin to re-open, it is crucial that employees know how to protect themselves and their co-workers from exposure to COVID-19.

The course prepares employees to:

• Recognize signs, symptoms, and risk factors for COVID-19
• Describe how the COVID-19 disease is transmitted
• Follow recommended hygiene and work protocols to prevent exposure
•  Properly use and care for PPE and face coverings, when required 

 Find more resources to help your facility protect employees from COVID-19 at Lion.com/COVID19
 

Tags: coronavirus, COVID-19, covid-19 training by state, employee training, Oregon