The NAHB has published a toolkit with resources to help builders comply with the requirement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS) on COVID-19 vaccines and testing. The ETS, published on Nov. 5, requires all employers with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccinations for their workers or weekly COVID-19 tests to attend work. After its publication in the Federal Register, some of the provisions in the ETS will be enforceable by OSHA inspectors beginning Dec. 6.
The NAHB’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard Toolkit is organized as a Q&A that addresses several of the most common questions the organization has received from members regarding the new ETS. By Dec. 6, businesses must have a written policy in place that details their COVID-19 vaccination and testing plans. Additionally, employers must determine employee vaccination status, provide paid time off for vaccinations and recovery, require face coverings for unvaccinated employees, and provide information to employees on a company policy by Dec. 6. Businesses must mandate weekly testing for unvaccinated employees by Jan. 4, according to the ETS. Part-time employees do count toward the total number of employees for a company, as well as employees who telework, while independent contractors do not count toward a company’s total number of employees.
Exemptions to the rule apply to workers who do not report to a workplace where other individuals are present or who telework from home and workers who perform their work exclusively outdoors. The ETS contains specific language related to the construction industry and outdoor work, however.
“To qualify for this exception [related to outdoor work], the employee’s work must truly occur ‘outdoors,’ which would not include buildings under construction where substantial portions of the structure are in place, such as walls and ceiling elements that would impede the natural flow of fresh air at the worksite,” according to the ETS.
The ETS specifies that if an employee works primarily outdoors but routinely occupies vehicles with other employees as part of work duties, those employees are not covered by the outdoor work exemption.
The NAHB resource also addresses questions about the ETS and multi-employer jobsites and subcontractors, possible employee exemptions from the vaccine requirement, and the impact of the ETS on existing state laws.
