June 22, 2020

C. Ray Davenport

Commissioner

Department of Labor and Industry

600 East Main Street, Room 207

Richmond, VA 23219

Re: 16 VAC 25-220, Emergency Temporary Standard/Emergency Regulation Infectious Disease Prevention: SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19, June 12, 2020

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Department of Labor and Industry's Emergency Temporary Standard/Emergency Regulation Infectious Disease Prevention: SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19, June 12, 2020 (Emergency Regulation). As we make progress in our response to the COVID-19 virus, businesses are reopening and workers are returning to their jobs. Many "essential workers" have been working throughout this difficult time for our benefit and risking their own health. It is critical that all employers operate safely and protect their workers. No one should have to choose between their own health (and their family's health) and their financial well-being.

I urge the board to adopt the Emergency Regulation with the exception of one paragraph, Paragraph G on Page 6, which allows employers to ignore the Emergency Regulation if they comply with federal CDC guidance. CDC publications are only suggestions. Voluntary guidance is never a substitute for an enforceable standard. Further, CDC guidance has been watered down in response to industry requests instead of scientific reasoning and consideration of public safety.

In addition, please include workers in all sectors where we've seen outbreaks in the "high risk" category. We know that all workplaces where workers are in close contact with the public and/or their coworkers are at high risk of exposure, including those at meat-packing plants and corrections facilities, not just healthcare workers. More than 25,000 cases have been tied to meat-packing plants. The Emergency Regulation must ensure that all workers are protected equally from the virus by requiring an exposure assessment, infection plan, controls, reporting and training in all at-risk workplaces.

The Emergency Regulation must also include strong requirements for reporting and record-keeping. This is critical to tracking the location of cases and containing outbreaks, as well as assessing compliance.

Thank you for considering my comments. As the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board considers the Emergency Regulation, I ask that they enact these regulations with the changes that I have requested so that workers in our Commonwealth can return to their jobs and our essential workers can continue to serve with the confidence that they and their families will be safe. Employers are in a position to create a safe workplace and to train their employees so that they will not be at risk of getting sick with the COVID-19 virus from their coworkers or the public.

Please contact me if you have questions or I can be of help.

Kind regards, 

Jennifer B. Boysko

Member, Virginia Senate