The Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which directs large employers to require certain eligible employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or get regularly tested for the virus, represents an important step toward reducing the threat of COVID-19 in the workplace. While the agency offers numerous compelling justifications for the ETS and its proposed final rule, this comment highlights several additional rationales in support of OSHA’s COVID-safety measures regarding the legislative and regulatory history of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. While that history supports the agency’s authority to finalize this proposal, it likewise provides support for OSHA to finalize a more targeted regulation focused on restricting the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces with particularly high risk of transmission.
A blog post on the issue by comment co-authors and NYU Law students Nina Henry and Alex Jonlin is available here.