On Aug. 20, the , of which 老牛影视is a steering committee member, submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 Occupational Safety and Health Administration鈥檚 .听

CISC鈥檚 comments support OSHA鈥檚 determination not to include the construction industry within the scope of the rule. In the comments, CISC stated that the construction industry has been consistently characterized as low risk for exposure to COVID-19 by OSHA and other regulatory agencies. Furthermore, the construction industry has been at the forefront of efforts to implement proactive mitigation measures specific to COVID-19. Any attempts by OSHA to expand the ETS to cover construction is not supported by the evidence and would be impermissible under the

The comment letter discusses the following:

1. The proactive measures taken by CISC and the construction industry to address COVID-19 in construction.听
2. The process that OSHA has undertaken to develop the ETS and how applying the ETS to the construction industry without engaging the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health and specifically raising construction-specific issues in the ETS would be inappropriate and unlawful.听
3. How and why the construction industry is low risk and thus applying the ETS to the construction industry would be impermissible.听
4. How it would be inappropriate to apply the requirements of the ETS, the vast majority of which would be inapplicable to the construction work environment, in the construction industry.听
5. How OSHA鈥檚 anti-retaliation paragraph permitting OSHA to pursue Citations and Notifications of Penalty for alleged retaliation is unlawful and impermissible under the OSH Act.

Read CISC鈥檚 comment letter to learn more.

In addition to CISC, 老牛影视submitted comments to OSHA as steering committee member of the .

On June 10, OSHA听announced听the long-awaited听. The ETS focuses requirements on healthcare workers who are most likely to have contact with someone infected with COVID-19. The ETS establishes new requirements for settings where employees provide healthcare or health care support services, including skilled nursing homes and home healthcare, with some exemptions for healthcare providers who screen out patients who may have COVID-19.听

鈥淥SHA made the right decision to issue an ETS to cover tasks associated with high exposure risk levels and not construction operations, which are generally low risk,鈥� said CISC in a听June 10 听鈥淲orkplace safety and health are top priorities for members of CISC. At the outset of the pandemic, the coalition developed an industry-wide COVID-19 Exposure Prevention Preparedness and Response Plan to provide a comprehensive approach to keeping construction workers, deemed to be essential, safe.鈥�

Visit for additional resources on COVID-19, including .听

Any further updates on the OSHA COVID-19 ETS will be included in Newsline.