Question: What precautions should employers in non-healthcare workplaces take to protect workers from COVID-19?

Answer:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (Alert, Guidance) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued workplace guidance to guide employers during the COVID-19 outbreak. They describe how employers should develop preparedness plans and communicate those plans to protect workers through effective training. Employers should assess worker exposure to hazards and risks and implement infection prevention measures to reasonably address them consistent with OSHA Standards. Such measures could include promoting frequent and thorough handwashing or sanitizing with at least 60% alcohol hand sanitizer; encouraging workers to stay at home if sick; encouraging use of cloth face coverings; and training them on proper respiratory etiquette, social distancing, and other steps they can take to protect themselves. Employers may need to consider using stanchions to help keep workers and others at the worksite at least 6 feet away from each other. Installing temporary barriers and shields and spacing out workstations can also help achieve social distancing recommendations. Employers should clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces (e.g., door handles, sink handles, workstations, restroom stalls) at least daily, or as much as possible. Employers subject to OSHA's PPE standard must also provide and require the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when needed. Job hazard assessments must be conducted to determine the appropriate type and level of PPE required.

The U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 (Spanish) and OSHA's Prevent Worker Exposure to COVID-19 alert (Spanish) provide more information on steps all employers can take to reduce workers' risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Learn more about preventing the spread of COVID-19 from OSHA and CDC.

Question: Where can workers find general information about protecting themselves at work during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Answer:

OSHA's COVID-19 Safety and Health Topics page provides a variety of resources to help workers protect themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

• Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 (Spanish)
• Worker Exposure Risk to COVID-19 (Spanish)
• Information on workers' rights
• Posters
• OSHA Alerts

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also provides information for businesses, workplaces, and workers, including health and safety steps for specific occupations.

Question: Does the final rule require that employers post load capacity ratings in buildings?

Answer:

Question: Would winding stairs attached to tanks be required to meet the requirements in §1910.25(d) for spiral stairs?

Answer:

No. Section 1910.21(b) defines spiral stairs as a "series of treads attached to a vertical pole in a winding fashion, usually within a cylindrical space" (emphasis added). Winding stairs attached to tanks do not have vertical poles; therefore, they are not spiral stairs and must meet the requirements of §1910.25(b) and (c).

Question: Are fixed stairs attached to the exterior of tanks required to comply with the requirements of §1910.25(b) or would those stairs fall under the exemptions in §1910.25(a)?

Answer:

The exception from the stair requirements in §1910.25(a) only applies to stairs serving floating roof tanks, stairs on scaffolds, stairs on self-propelled motorized equipment, or stairs designed into machines or equipment. For stairs on the exterior of other tanks, employers would have to ensure they comply with the requirements in §1910.25(b) and (c).

Question: Does the exception to the 9.5-inch riser height and 9.5-inch tread depth requirements for stairs installed before January 17, 2017 (§1910.25(c)(5)), also apply to stairs designed and fabricated, but not yet installed, by that date?

Answer:

Stairs with design drawings issued for construction or that were in fabrication before January 17, 2017, but not installed, will be in compliance if they met the previous requirements for standard stairs.

Question: If a personal fall arrest system or ladder safety system is required on one section of a fixed ladder, are all sections required to have a personal fall arrest system or ladder safety system even if those other sections are less than 24 ft. in length?

Answer:

Whether an employer must equip a fixed ladder or ladder sections with fall protection depends on the height the ladder extends above a lower level, and thus the distance a worker on the ladder could fall, not the length of the particular ladder section. Section 1910.28(b)(9)(i) requires that employers equip fixed ladders with personal fall arrest or ladder safety systems if the ladder extends more than 24 feet above a lower level. For example, if a multiple section or side-step ladder extends more than 24 feet above the ground, the employer must equip the entire ladder with personal fall arrest or ladder safety systems. Although the length of each section of the ladder may be less than 24 feet, a worker on that ladder could fall more than 24 feet. OSHA also notes that §1910.28(b)(9)(ii)(A) requires that employers must ensure that a fixed ladder equipped with a personal fall arrest or ladder safety system on more than one section provides protection for the entire vertical distance of the ladder, including all ladder sections.

Question: Are grab bars required on step-through ladders? Would side rail extensions required in §1910.23(d)(5) serve to meet the requirement for grab bars?

Answer:

The final rule does not require that employers equip step-through fixed ladders with grab bars. However, §1910.23(d)(4) requires that side rails on step-through fixed ladders extend 42 inches above the top of the access level or landing platform served by the ladder. Workers must have sufficient handholds at least 42 inches above the highest level on which they will step when reaching the access level regardless of the location of the access level (i.e., roof or top of parapet). (82 FR 82542)

Question: To determine whether a fixed ladder extends more than 24 feet above a lower level, is the measurement done from the ground level/lower level to the fixed ladder or from where the ladder starts to the top of it?

Answer:

For purposes of §1910.28(b)(9), the employer must measure the distance from the ground/lower level to the top of the fixed ladder. If that distance exceeds 24 feet, regardless of the length of the ladder, the employer must equip the fixed ladder with fall protection.

Question: What activities are not core agricultural operations and, therefore, not excluded from the final rule?

Answer:

Post-harvesting activities are not integrally related to core agricultural operations and therefore are considered to be general industry activities covered by the rule. These general industry post-harvesting activities include:

• Post-harvesting activities not on a farm, such as receiving, sorting, cleaning, sorting, sizing, weighing, inspecting, stacking, packaging and shipping; and
• Processing of agricultural products that change the character of the product (e.g., canning, making sauces) or involve a higher degree of packaging in a shed or other location (instead of field sorting).

Also, activities performed on a farm that "are not related to farming operations and are not necessary to gain economic value from products produced on the farm" are general industry activities the final rule covers. These activities include:

• Grain handling operations that store and sell grain grown on other farms;
• Grain milling facilities and the use of milled flour to make baked goods; and
  • Food processing facilities and manufacturing operations, such as making cider from apples grown on the farm and processing large carrots into "baby carrots."