OSHA Withdraws Portions of the COVID-19 Healthcare ETS

12/27/21 — OSHA announced that it is withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portions of the COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The COVID-19 log and reporting provisions remain in effect. The agency urges healthcare employers to continue to implement the ETS’s requirements. It will also continue to enforce requirements under the existing PPE and Respiratory Protection Standards to protect employees from COVID-19 hazards.

An OSHA ETS is effective until superseded by a permanent standard within six months of the publication of the ETS. In working to protect healthcare personnel from the spread of COVID-19, the agency has determined that these protections should be finalized in the context of broader infectious disease rulemaking, which OSHA believes cannot be completed in the required timeframe. APIC will continue to work with OSHA to provide infection prevention and control expertise as OSHA continues development of a permanent standard.