SC&RA, Construction Industry Safety Coalition Submit Letter to OSHA on Vaccination

(September 29, 2021) - SC&RA, along with 25 other Associations as part of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), have signed a letter to James Frederick, OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary, that highlights the CISC COVID-19 prevention efforts to date. The letter states the construction industry is low-risk for COVID-19, and raises issues of concern, including workforce shortages, employer and employee obligations for vaccinations and testing, paperwork burdens, recordability of adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine, cost of paid time off for vaccinations and adverse reactions, and availability of testing kits.

On September 9th, President Biden issued a new plan Path out of the Pandemic, which includes a six-pronged, comprehensive national strategy to combat the surge of COVID-19 variants, with the primary goal of vaccinating the unvaccinated.  One prong of the plan would entail OSHA issuing an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that will require all employers with 100+ employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work.  OSHA is currently developing this 2nd ETS and the Agency does not have to follow the Administrative Procedure Act, meaning there is not an opportunity for a formal public notice-and-comment period.

SC&RA believes it is imperative that the construction industry engages quickly on this issue, as it did with the first COVID ETS. To read the letter, click here. For more information, contact Beth O’Quinn.