Commissioner C. Ray Davenport
Virginia Department of Labor and Industry
600 East Main Street, Suite 207
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Re: Emergency Temporary Standard/ Emergency Regulation, Infectious Disease Prevention,
SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19, §16 VAC 25-220
Dear Commissioner Davenport,
The health and safety of our workforce and customers is the top priority for employers in Virginia. The business community supports clear and consistent workplace health protection protocols; however, these protocols must be flexible. Every industry and work environment are different. Defining the standards that businesses must follow will require strong public-private coordination. We encourage the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board to consider the various industry comments that you receive to ensure effective safety protocols and eliminate any potential obstacles to reopening.
We are concerned that the draft emergency standards, as currently written, contain several inconsistencies with state and federal regulations. In order to avoid confusion and contradictions, we suggest the Board regulation better align with OSHA and CDC guidance. A few examples of these inconsistencies are:
The Board should also consider the burden requiring the creation of an Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response Plan might have on small businesses in the Commonwealth. Most of these businesses have little to no experience in creating such a process document. This new standard will be costly for these businesses to hire outside professionals to create these plans. They will then have to take time to both implement and train their workforce to comply with the new standards. This is on top of the many other recently released regulations from federal, state and local governmental bodies.
Lastly, we believe that enforcement of these provisions should be handled with understanding and leniency. Virginia businesses, many of which have been devasted by the economic impact of this pandemic, are working hard to remain safely operational for their workforce and customers; however, the shifting regulatory landscape continues to be a significant challenge, especially for Virginia’s small businesses. As the Board implements these new emergency standards, it is our hope that they will refrain from overenforcement and not penalize businesses that have given a good faith effort in following these complicated rules that continue to change.
Thank you for your consideration.
Best regards,
Barry E. DuVal
President and CEO