Question: I am a lab technician, and I work with samples that contain (or may contain) SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. What level of biosafety precautions should I follow?

Answer:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes the appropriate biosafety level (BSL) protection for various types of tasks in its Interim Guidelines for Collecting, Handling, and Testing Clinical Specimens for COVID-19 and Interim Laboratory Biosafety Guidelines for Handling and Processing Specimens Associated with COVID-19.

In general, CDC recommends that for:

• Routine diagnostic testing of clinical specimens (e.g., processing initial samples, applying stains to fixed smears, and pathologic examination of inactivated tissues), work should be performed at BSL-2;
• Environmental specimen testing that involves virus concentration procedures (e.g., sewage surveillance testing), work should be performed at BSL-2 with BSL-3 precautions, including respiratory protection and a designated area for putting on and taking off personal protective equipment;
• Virus isolation in cell cultures, work should be performed at BSL-3;
• Environmental specimen testing that concentrates virus, work should be performed at BSL-2 with BSL-3 precautions.

For viral testing of specimens conducted outside of a BSL-2 laboratory, such as rapid respiratory testing performed at the point of care, use standard precautions to provide a barrier between the specimen and personnel during specimen manipulation. For more information on specimen collection, handling, and testing, refer to the CDC's Interim Guidelines for Collecting, Handling, and Testing Clinical Specimens for COVID-19.

Aerosol-generating procedures and work with concentrated virus should always be performed in an appropriately maintained and certified biosafety cabinet.

OSHA also discusses laboratory biosafety on its COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page. This guidance is generally consistent with CDC's Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), 5th Edition.

Question: What can I do if I am a healthcare worker whose employer is not adhering to the relevant Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations or OSHA guidelines and requirements to protect workers from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes C

Answer:

First, talk to your supervisor about your concerns.

Under federal law, your employer has the responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace that is free from serious recognized hazards. If you have concerns, you have the right to speak up about them without fear of retaliation.

If you feel you are being exposed to a serious health or safety hazard, you have the right to file a complaint. If you have suffered retaliation because you voiced concerns about a health or safety hazard, you have the right to file a whistleblower protection complaint.

Visit OSHA's Workers' rights page to learn more.

Question: I am a healthcare worker who previously provided direct patient care without a mask. Why do I need one now?

Answer:

OSHA recommends that, during the ongoing pandemic and associated community spread of COVID-19, all workers wear face coverings to prevent the spread of their respiratory droplets. This is because people can spread SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, by coughing, sneezing, or talking—even if they do not feel sick. Because of other exposures in healthcare settings, healthcare workers may need to wear surgical masks to prevent or reduce the risk of this transmission, while also protecting themselves from exposure to patients' potentially infectious respiratory droplets and other splashes or sprays of body fluids.

Healthcare workers and employers should also consult OSHA and CDC guidance to find out if they need additional types of personal protective equipment. OSHA recommends that healthcare workers with exposure to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients wear PPE ensembles that include N95 or better filtering facepiece respirators. For healthcare workers providing patient care to other patients (i.e., those who are known suspected of having or known to have COVID-19) in communities with ongoing community transmission, surgical masks can be used in conjunction with face shields or goggles to protect the wearer from exposure to others' respiratory droplets and splashes or sprays of other body fluids that can spread diseases. In these instances, the combination of surgical masks with face shields or goggles can reduce the risk of exposure to the virus when caring for people who may spread COVID-19 without knowing they have it. For some activities, including aerosol-generating procedures, healthcare workers likely need N95 or better filtering facepieces respirators. N95 or better respirators should be used in accordance with a respiratory protection program.

Question: What should healthcare employers do to protect healthcare workers from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19?

Answer:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and OSHA are providing extensive guidance for infection prevention in healthcare settings. OSHA's guidance materials include:

• The Healthcare section of the COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page
• The high and very high exposure risk sections of the Guidance for Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 booklet (Spanish)

Both agencies' guidance materials describe how healthcare employers should develop and implement infection control and preparedness plans and communicate those plans to workers through effective training. Employers should assess the risks and follow the hierarchy of controls for worker protection:

• Engineering controls (e.g., airborne infection isolation rooms);
• Administrative controls (e.g., cohorting patients);
• Work practices (e.g., handwashing, disinfecting surfaces); and
• Appropriate personal protective equipment (e.g., gloves, respirators, face shields or other eye protection, and gowns).

For information on protecting healthcare workers from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, please see:

• OSHA's COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page
• Enforcement guidance for COVID-19
• Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 (Spanish)
• Worker Exposure Risk to COVID-19 (Spanish)
• Alert: Prevent Worker Exposure to Coronavirus (COVID-19) (Spanish)
• CDC's COVID-19 website
• COVID-19 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Disclosures to law enforcement, paramedics, other first responders and public health authorities

Question: In light of some professional organizations' recommendations to suspend certain types of testing required under OSHA standards, what should employers do to remain in compliance?

Answer:

Some industry-specific professional organizations have recommended suspending certain types of testing while there is ongoing community spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. For example, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine recently recommended that occupational pulmonary function tests be suspended because of concerns about spreading droplets containing SARS-CoV-2 during spirometry testing. Additionally, the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation recommended that audiometric evaluations be suspended indefinitely.

OSHA is providing temporary enforcement discretion around the requirements of certain standards, including where OSHA standards require initial or recurring training, audits, reviews, testing, or assessments. More information is available in the COVID-19 enforcement guidance, provided on the Enforcement Memos page. Employers should regularly check the Standards page of OSHA's COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page for updates on the status of these memoranda.

Question: Has OSHA waived any requirements of its standards in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Answer:

All OSHA standards remain in effect. However, OSHA understands employers are concerned about their ability to comply with certain requirements during the pandemic and is exercising temporary enforcement discretion for certain provisions of OSHA standards, such as those for initial or recurring training, audits, reviews, testing, and assessments.

For the most current information, visit the Standards page of the COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page, which lists all enforcement discretion memoranda related to the pandemic. These memoranda also appear on OSHA's Enforcement Memos page.

Question: What should an employer do to assess the risk of employees being exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the workplace?

Answer:

All employers should conduct risk and hazard assessments for all types of workers and then create plans to address identified hazards. Employers can use OSHA's tools for hazard identification and assessment.

Question: Which OSHA standards apply to employer protection of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Answer:

The Standards page of OSHA's COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page explains how OSHA standards apply to employer protection of workers from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, during the pandemic.

Question: Has OSHA changed its respiratory protection requirements for the construction industry?

Answer:

No. All OSHA requirements for respiratory protection in construction that were in place before the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place. Under OSHA's Respiratory Protection standard for construction (29 CFR 1926.103), employers must follow 29 CFR 1910.134 the general industry respiratory protection standard. Similarly, employers must continue to follow requirements in other OSHA standards, including those that require respiratory protection to protect workers from exposures to certain chemicals and other hazardous substances.

OSHA recognizes that employers and workers in construction may not always be able to get the personal protective equipment they need because of shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. OSHA is providing temporary enforcement discretion around the requirements of certain standards, including the Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134). The enforcement guidance describes criteria for enforcement discretion when employers make good-faith efforts to get National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)–certified N95 filtering facepiece respirators or other appropriate NIOSH-certified respirators and are unable to do so.

NIOSH guidance describes options for extended use and reuse of respirators, using expired respirators or respirators certified under the standards of other countries or jurisdictions, and other options for protecting workers who need respirators on the job. More information is available in the COVID-19 enforcement guidance on the Enforcement Memos page. Employers should regularly check the Standards page of OSHA's COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page for updates on the status of these memoranda.

See the FAQs on cloth face coverings for more information about the difference between cloth face coverings and respirators.

Question: Does OSHA have any COVID-19 guidance for the construction industry?

Answer:

Yes. OSHA has released guidance specific to the construction industry. You can also find information for all employers and workers on its COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page, as well as in the U.S. Department of Labor-U.S. Department of Health and Human Services booklet Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 (Spanish).