Reminder of Va.'s State-Specific COVID Safety Standards
Dear WANADA Members,
In anticipation of the release of the final guidelines, which will be published next week, our government relations advisors in Richmond produced a
brief summary of the standards.
These workplace safety standards, which will go into effect 60 days after they are finalized, go above and beyond the state's
phase three guidelines and best practices. Among other important aspects, they require businesses to classify their employees in various risk categories. Please note that employees at public-facing retail businesses are automatically supposed to be classified, at minimum, as "medium risk."
Businesses are also required to develop an infectious disease response plan, and to provide all employees at medium-risk jobs (or higher) with training on COVID-19 symptom awareness, safety education, and appropriate uses of personal protective equipment.
We strongly encourage you to review the
full interim standards, in preparation for the publication of the final rules and their enforcement later this fall. We also strongly encourage you to continue rigidly complying with all current state safety regulations.
We will be following up with more information in the coming week once the rules are finalized, and will be sure to provide you with all the information that the Virginia government produces related to this new safety standard.
Please let me or Joe Koch (
jk@wanada.org) know if you have any questions. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to safety during this difficult time.
