OSHA Announces National Emphasis Program on COVID-19 Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) on COVID-19 worker safety, which will focus on increasing OSHA inspections and enforcement efforts at high-contact worksites. The program will also prioritize employers that retaliate against workers for complaints about unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or for exercising other rights protected by federal law. Window and door manufacturers are listed as a “secondary target industry” under the new program.

According to OSHA, NEP inspections will enhance the agency’s previous COVID-19 enforcement efforts, and will include some follow-up inspections of worksites inspected in 2020. The program will remain in effect for up to one year from its issuance date, though OSHA has the flexibility to amend or cancel the program as the pandemic subsides.

In a related action, OSHA has also updated its Interim Enforcement Response Plan to prioritize the use of on-site workplace inspections where practical, or a combination of on-site and remote methods. OSHA will only use remote-only inspections if the agency determines that on-site inspections cannot be performed safely. On March 18, 2021, OSHA will rescind the May 26, 2020, memorandum on this topic and this new guidance will go into and remain in effect until further notice.