Tell OSHA: We need permanent protections against Covid-19!
Add your name to our petition to OSHA:
I join my voice with National Nurses United and health care workers across the country urging the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to adopt a permanent OSHA standard on Covid-19 in health care workplaces, building on the emergency temporary standard (ETS) adopted in June 2021 and set to expire Dec. 21, 2021, and ensuring there is no lapse in protection.
Unfettered, widespread transmission has resulted in and will continue to result in the evolution and spread of new variants of concern, such as Omicron. I am urging OSHA not to let the hard-won Covid-19 protections in the ETS end — especially as we learn more about the latest variant. Letting these protections expire without adopting a permanent standard would mean more transmission of the virus, more hospitalizations, and more deaths from Covid-19.The adoption of a permanent OSHA standard on Covid-19 in health care workplaces should be built on current ETS requirements, the precautionary principle, and updated scientific knowledge of the virus.
In addition, I stand with NNU to encourage OSHA to work expediently to issue a separate, broader standard to protect all workers from workplace exposure to aerosol transmissible diseases. Such a standard is essential to prepare for future pandemics and protect the health of all workers.
Sign the Petition
Right now, health care employers must meet Covid-19 infection control requirements to provide lifesaving protections for health care workers and patients. That's thanks to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Health Care Covid-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS). But that ETS was a temporary stopgap measure and its protections expire on December 21, 2021.
The Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, with new variants emerging, like Omicron. OSHA must take immediate action to issue a permanent standard to protect health care workers. And a broader, separate standard is also needed to prepare for future pandemics and protect all workers from workplace exposure to aerosol transmissible diseases!
Use the form below to add your name to the petition.