The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has clarified employers’ responsibility to track workplace COVID-19 virus infections.
OSHA’s recordkeeping rule requires employers to include in federally mandated logs any work-related illness that leads to a worker missing a day or more on the job or receiving medical treatment more substantial than first-aid. The new guidance says that only employers in the health-care industry, emergency response organizations such as police and fire departments, and correctional institutions will have to determine whether employees contracted the virus on the job.
Construction contractors, manufacturers, and other employers won’t have to make that determination unless there’s “objective evidence that a Covid-19 case may be work-related” and “the evidence was reasonably available to the employer.” OSHA’s new guidance says objective evidence could include “a number of cases developing among workers who work closely together without an alternative explanation.”
OSHA had announced in early March that coronavirus cases would have to be recorded. Industry groups, including construction organizations, said it would be too unwieldy to determine if an employee became sick at a work site or contracted the disease elsewhere.
Related Stories
Office Buildings | Jun 26, 2023
Electric vehicle chargers are top priority for corporate office renters
Businesses that rent office space view electric vehicle (EV) charging stations as a top priority. More than 40% of companies in the Americas and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) are looking to include EV charging stations in future leases, according to JLL’s 2023 Responsible Real Estate study.
Urban Planning | Jun 15, 2023
Arizona limits housing projects in Phoenix area over groundwater supply concerns
Arizona will no longer grant certifications for new residential developments in Phoenix, it’s largest city, due to concerns over groundwater supply. The announcement indicates that the Phoenix area, currently the nation’s fastest-growing region in terms of population growth, will not be able to sustain its rapid growth because of limited freshwater resources.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 15, 2023
Alliance of Pittsburgh building owners slashes carbon emissions by 45%
The Pittsburgh 2030 District, an alliance of property owners in the Pittsburgh area, says that it has reduced carbon emissions by 44.8% below baseline. Begun in 2012 under the guidance of the Green Building Alliance (GBA), the Pittsburgh 2030 District encompasses more than 86 million sf of space within 556 buildings.
Industry Research | Jun 15, 2023
Exurbs and emerging suburbs having fastest population growth, says Cushman & Wakefield
Recently released county and metro-level population growth data by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the fastest growing areas are found in exurbs and emerging suburbs.
Resiliency | Jun 14, 2023
HUD offers $4.8 billion in funding for green and resilient building retrofit projects
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released guidelines for its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) that has $4.8 billion for funding green projects.
Codes and Standards | Jun 6, 2023
California’s new power grid modernization plan furthers ambitious climate goals
California’s new $7.3 billion grid modernization plan is a crucial step in furthering its ambitious climate goals. The board of governors for the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the state’s grid operator, recently approved a strategy to build thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines.
Mixed-Use | Jun 6, 2023
Public-private partnerships crucial to central business district revitalization
Central Business Districts are under pressure to keep themselves relevant as they face competition from new, vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods emerging across the world’s largest cities.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 6, 2023
Minnesota expected to adopt building code that would cut energy use by 80%
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to soon sign a bill that would change the state’s commercial building code so that new structures would use 80% less energy when compared to a 2004 baseline standard. The legislation aims for full implementation of the new code by 2036.
Codes and Standards | Jun 2, 2023
Supreme Court drastically reduces wetland areas impacted by Clean Water Act
A recent Supreme Court decision that substantially narrowed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate millions of acres of wetlands is expected to open more land for development. More than half of the nation’s wetlands could lose protection under the Clean Water Act, according to environmentalists and legal analysts.
Multifamily Housing | May 30, 2023
Boston’s new stretch code requires new multifamily structures to meet Passive House building requirements
Phius certifications are expected to become more common as states and cities boost green building standards. The City of Boston recently adopted Massachusetts’s so-called opt-in building code, a set of sustainability standards that goes beyond the standard state code.