Item d. indicates that an employer must report two or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the VA Dept of Health within 24 hours of becoming aware of such cases, but there is no duration provided.  Meaning, are these two cases within a 24-hour period, a week, a 14-day period, a year? Please provide clarity on a duration.

Based upon our interpretation of the standard, it appears that only the employer's classification of risk exposure would determine when (if ever) the requirements of this standard would no longer apply.  Is the intent to have workers within the same industry or even across industries to act differently (relative to masks, socially distancing, etc.) based upon every employer's interpretation.  It would seem prudent to have an end date of this legislation that could be extended as applicable based upon the state (or county) COVID-19 numbers.  As written, some workers could be in masks forever.  Please clarify.

·        Thank you for proposing this permanent standard to protect Virginia’s workers.

·        Please adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends.

I believe that the temporary standards should be made permanent for workers. They should be given every consideration when it comes to Personal Protection Equipment in order to continue to carry-out their essential worker status.

Dear powers that be,

in order to be a more compassionate and caring people… Virginia needs to adapt worker safety standards during times of the pandemic and also permanently… Beyond the pandemic.

there also needs to be sick day pay permanently established in the state of Virginia and pandemic pay standards.  we need to be thoughtful about this current pandemic and those in the future.  it is only right.

If you think it’s wrong, think about the impact of decreasing diseases in your own home/Community and reduction of your own illness risk.

Do the right thing. Pamela

Day working can represent slavery when we disrespect those whose jobs are so important to us!!

Thank you for proposing this permanent standard to protect Virginia’s workers.

Please adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends.

Please support and adopt the passage of a Paid Sick Day standard.

Thank you for proposing this permanent standard to protect Virginia’s workers.

I am writing to support the permanent safety standard for Virginia's workers.

The proposed permanent standard builds on the temporary standard, incorporating the latest information about the virus. 

Please adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends.

Thank you,

Jennie Waering, J.D.

Covid-19 is a wake up call telling us that we do not have any adequate response to a broad health care emergency.  Much of it was due to having inadequate worker safety standards in place that employers were required to follow.  Employers naturally cut costs often at the expense of workers.  Workers need regulatory protection or they become vulnerable if accepted epidemiological standards are not followed.  Therefore we need to mandate that the standards developed with learning from Covid-19 are followed in future events.  I strongly encourage you to work with the CDC (under Biden, not Trump) and develop these worker safety standard to keep workers safe during pandemics.

I am grateful to Governor Northam and the Department of Labor and Industries (DOLI) staff, led by Ray Davenport, for their fine work on the critical standard which provides health and safety workplace regulations to protect employees against COVID-19. The proposed permanent standard builds on the temporary standard, incorporating the latest information about the virus. The Commonwealth of Virginia will be stronger when the regulations to protect employees are made permanent.

A permanent standard to protect Virginia’s workers must be adopted as soon as possible. This critical measure will slow the spread of COVID-19 and help our economy continue to rebound.

Please adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends. Thank you.

It is my opinion the Virginia ETS, although well-intentioned, was borne of panic, and no other state I am aware of promulgated similar standards.  The recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Virginia is reportedly a result of social gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday and less likely workplace exposures; indicative of behavior outside the workplace.   

I do not think it is the place of the DOL to address public health issues manifesting outside the workplace, much less citing employers for health issues brought into the workplace by employees who unknowingly are carriers of an infectious disease.  The Virginia Department Of Health and localities are better suited, better equipped and have the professional resources necessary to deliver solutions.

Lastly, it appearing that there is a "light at the end of the tunnel" with the introduction of vaccines that will hopefully end the pandemic.  Accordingly, I do not think implementing a permanent standard is appropriate or necessary.  Students of the VOSH Occupational Safety And Health Standards will find numerous respiratory and sanitation standards already in place.   

The Emergency Temporary Standard must be reinstated until we are safely beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.

During cold weather, by the time employees reach an entrance door, their forehead has been cooled too far to get an accurate temperature.  I have seen the same issue when I have gone to appointments such as the doctor and dentist.  This issue has been going on for many weeks and when the weather is cold, I believe we are misleading employees by making them think we are checking temps.

I know there are no perfect answers to the mess we are in, but for sure during cold weather "temps checks" are a clear waste of resources. 

I am confident that the above information can be quickly confirmed by surveying ten companies. 

Thank you for proposing this permanent standard to protect Virginia’s workers.

Please adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends.

Keeping workers safe enables our businesses to get back on their feet and the economy to rebound more quickly.

Virginia is for lovers and healthy workers!

- Elizabeth MMyers

I am writing as a concerned citizen regarding the safety of Virginia workers.  We MUST continue requirements for employers to protect our workers against COVID-19.  The distribution of vaccines does give us hope but we still have many months to go before we can all feel a measure of safety.  

I am asking that Virginia’s Safety and Health Codes Board adopt a permanent standard (not an extension) for COVID-19  protections to continue.

Please pass the permanent standard for workers in Virginia. With COVID and other future health challenges and possible pandemics, all employees in Virginia deserve to be protected during a pandemic.

While the intent was good, the Emergency Temporary Standard was obsolete before it was released. When you have emerging information on a new disease, you cannot put concrete values in a document that you do not intend to update regularly. The Emergency Temporary Standard was a failure because it was not updated with new information as the CDC released it to the general public. In many cases, the ETS conflicted with CDC guidelines and even the Virginia Department of Health's guidelines - who were following CDC guidelines. In order for a new standard to be successful, it would need to be a living document that is reviewed and updated frequently. Because Virginia is unwilling to put forth the effort to make a relevant standard, the better practice would be to require companies to follow CDC/VDH guidelines and / or create an electronic standard that has links to CDC guidelines.

The COVID protection standards are saving lives. Please make them permanent! Workers need to be able to go to work feeling safe.

Thank you for proposing this permanent standard to protect Virginia's workers. Please adopt this proposed standard prior to the temporary standard's expiration on January 27, 2021. The pandemic has exposed deep, systemic inequities in our employment and labor structures, and the basic protections this standard will offer will benefit our Commonwealth and our workers, especially those deemed essential for the continued functioning of our lives. I am grateful for the efforts put forward so far to prioritize worker safety over corporate profits, and hope this proposal will cross the finish line in time.

Please adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends. Worker safety is not just an issue during the pandemic. The pandemic opened our eyes and we cannot go back to the previous situation - we must learn from this experience. Please make mandated health and safety workplace regulations permanent before the temporary standard expires.

I believe it is appropriate and wise to make the health and safety workplace regulations protecting employees against the CoVid-19 virus permanent. Although the news regarding new vaccines is exciting, the reality is it will take at least 9-12 months to work out the logistics and get everyone vaccinated. 

During this time it is only prudent to make sure the regulations remain in place to protect employees and their employers safe. Businesses will benefit since productivity will be maintained contributing to the overall financial health of the company. 

It also protects customers since they come in contact with employees, especially retail businesses. So the benefits extend to everyone in the community. 

Thank you,

John Gregoire

James River Chapter

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy 

Please adopt permanent standards for the ETS.  It runs out in January and as we all know the virus is still raging.  Workers need this protection to continue.

Let's make this permanent - we'll be dealing with pandemics beyond COVID-19. We are all wiser now and employers need to adjust

The proposed 2020 16VAC25-220, Revised Proposed Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19 (December 10, 2020), in its current revision, in unreasonable and causes undue burden on employees and employers. This is immediately evident by the elimination of the test-based and time-based return to work options.

The proposed standard requires “employees known or suspected to be infected with the SARS-CoV2 virus…” not return to work until certain criteria are met, one of those criteria being a minimum of 10 days away from onset of symptoms. Unfortunatly, COVID-19 virus signs and symptoms are consistent with several other common illness or conditions; Flu, common Cold, sinus infections, migraine, allergies, food poisoning, etc.). This standard now eliminates the opportunity for an employee to prove they do not have COVID-19 and allow them return to work.  In fact, the entire standard fails to mention any use of COVID-19 testing for the benefit of employees or employers, even though it is free and widely available throughout the Commonwealth.

The burden on an employer to cover the costs for every employee, for every illness, and for almost two weeks will create a serious financial challenge. Employees, in an effort to protect their livelihood, will not report illnesses. The non-reporting of illnesses will create an even greater issue than that of the COVID-19 virus itself. This standard will create a culture of non-reporting and fear, and this will create an unsafe work environment.

The next burden this standard inflicts is the elimination of the option for employers to provide surgical/ medical procedure masks. On page 29, and other locations, the standard gives the impression that PPE for medical providers and first responders is still not readily available. As a first responder I do not agree with that impression. Requiring employer to provide only face coverings is yet another obstacle for employers to overcome and is unnecessary.

This proposed standard is a lot of seemingly good ideas and good intentions but does not appear to have one ounce of genuine understanding of current situation within the Commonwealth and has unrealistic expectations for employers. People and business are struggling. Implementing this standard as-is will create more problems then it solves. Making this a permanent standard is even more absurd.

The newly added definition for "Minimal occupational contact" located in 16VAC25-220-30  includes a footnote reference to OSHA's Hazard Recognition web page.  The hyperlink referenced in the footnote on page 16 of the draft standard does not direct the user to the correct location.  I believe the correct reference is https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/hazards#risk_classification

The OSHA web page includes a section with heading "Lower Exposure Risk" in which 5 examples of minimal occupational contact are provided.  These examples are more helpful in forming an understanding of the limits and extents of the definition than are the current words in the proposed standard.  

In the interests of consistency and best assisting the regulated community in proper risk classification, I suggest the five bullet point examples in the OSHA guidance be directly inserted into the definition in the proposed standard instead of simply being referenced by footnote.  

Thank you for proposing this permanent standard to protect Virginia’s workers.  Please adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends.

It's extremely important for workers to have legal protection and safe working conditions.

We must provide safety measures for all workers during the pandemic and extending on while people are being vaccinated.  In order to protect worker's health and maintain our economy, we cannot allow people to work in unsafe conditions.

As a nurse who had to quit working because of inadequate PPE supplies, I know that curbing the spread of COVID 19 is essential. The more we prevent, the less we have to pay in treatment costs, and nurses are among those costs. I have been a single mom, sole support, working in jobs without any benefits since I moved to Virginia in 1989 and I know very well how people go to work sick because they can't afford not to. This includes health care aides. 

If employers were going to provide benefits to part time and shift workers because it is the right thing to do, this would have happened a long time ago. I am convinced that it will never happen without legislation, and that the benefits of enforcement outweigh the costs. Part time workers hold up my own industry (health care) and hold up many other essential industries as well. 

If an employee continues to wear a political face covering and tries to cite this regulation as to why I can't fire him/her for doing so when political statements are not permitted in business attire, this will become a highly litigious situation.   

We commend the Department of Labor and Industries (DOLI) staff and the Safety and Health Codes Board (Board) for developing and approving emergency temporary standards in the wake of COVID-19. In particular, we thank DOLI and the Board for prioritizing physical distancing, which is one of the best ways to prevent person to person spread. We also strongly support requiring employers to provide greater transparency and communication when someone in the workplace has been infected with COVID-19, while still complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable Virginia laws and regulations. Finally, we appreciate both the strong sanitation requirements applying to workplaces and the standards that ensure access to basic sanitation needs for workers, as well as the anti-retaliation provisions. The proposed Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention for COVID-19 would maintain important protections for working people and communities in Virginia and provide continuity with the emergency temporary standards, thereby reducing the challenges employers and employees would face from changing standards. Thank you for considering these comments. We urge you to do what is right to protect Virginia’s workers and adopt the proposed Permanent Standard.

We commend the Department of Labor and Industries (DOLI) staff and the Safety and Health Codes Board (Board) for developing and approving emergency temporary standards in the wake of COVID-19.

In particular, we thank DOLI and the Board for prioritizing physical distancing, which is one of the best ways to prevent person to person spread. We also strongly support requiring employers to provide greater transparency and communication when someone in the workplace has been infected with COVID-19, while still complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable Virginia laws and regulations. Finally, we appreciate both the strong sanitation requirements applying to workplaces and the standards that ensure access to basic sanitation needs for workers, as well as the anti-retaliation provisions.

The proposed Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention for COVID-19 would maintain important protections for working people and communities in Virginia and provide continuity with the emergency temporary standards, thereby reducing the challenges employers and employees would face from changing standards. 

Thank you for considering these comments.  We urge you to do what is right to protect Virginia’s workers and adopt the proposed Permanent Standard.

Given the fact that Covid - 19 will almost certainly be with us well past March, the proposed deadline for the extension of the health and safety standard for workers, and widespread immunity brought about by the vaccine will take many months, I very much favor that a permanent health and safety standard for workers be adopted.

A permanent standard for health and safety for Virginia's workers will make Virginia a more welcome place to be employed. Healthy workers are more productive, and assure greater health protection to their coworkers and to public with which they engage. 

Do you think you could also pass some laws to make people stop doing irresponsible things when they aren't at work?  You know, the 16 hours a day that folks aren't being paid?

Seems like there is an awful big chunk of an employee's day that their place of employment has no control over... and yet the employer is the one subject to citation should too many employees get sick.

We have mask mandates, curfews and limits on social gatherings... and who is enforcing that?  I don't mean who is supposed to enforce it, I want to know who is actually enforcing that.  They're great ideas and people oughta follow them.

But at least in my town, no one is enforcing these rules.  Customers do whatever they want and employees keep their mouths shut because their crumby minimum wage job isn't worth getting screamed at or assaulted by some hoaxer hillbilly crying about his rights like Abraham Lincoln just freed his slaves.

That guy (we've all seen that guy plenty of times in 2020) gets to walk around proud as a peacock like he's in control of his own destiny and nobody can tell him what to do, while businesses are trying to keep their employees and customers safe and not go broke trying. 

And who gets cited?  The business is cited because the Commonwealth isn't standing up to the individual people outright defying the law.

Yes, workers need to be protected and some standard should be in place... but can we level the playing field a little?  Seems like an awful lot of pressure to put on people trying to make ends meet when half of the population equates mask-wearing with forced sterilization or concentration camp branding.

When I go to 7-11 and see 5 people mouth-breathing all over the coffee makers despite the employees wearing masks and standing behind plexi-glass partitions, I don't blame the 7-11.  I blame the entitled self-absorbed citizens that can't fathom the slightest inconvenience in their lives, and I blame the government that tells the 7-11 that it's their job to risk their lives arguing with people who don't care about public safety.  People who would love to rally their like-minded brethren into boycotting, vandalizing or publicly shaming people who had the audacity to try to enforce rules that even police wouldn't enforce.

Meanwhile we have businesses trying to figure out if their HVAC system is up to snuff so they can avoid citations while Customer Karen McRightWing is deliberately coughing on the employees.

"Well that business should call the police and that customer will be treated as a trespasser," says everyone who still believes it's the business's fault.  And to some extent, they're right.  Those people need to be addressed.

But when there are law enforcement officers around the country and in this state outright saying they won't enforce mandates... when public enforcement is a coin toss... why would any business think the law will be on their side?  Why would they assume anything more than this pandemic is terrible and their government has abandoned them?

I'd love to dream that this will all be moot in a few months, but some of these same people aren't going to get a vaccine because they think it'll give them autism and lower their credit score, or that it's just playing into whatever "the other side" wants them to do.  Nothing like acting only in spite.  

There is a level of personal accountability that simply has not been addressed and all the standards in the world, with all the threats of investigation and citation by the various regulatory authorities, all shooting from the hip with the best intentions in this unprecedented time, aren't going to change the fact that individual people will continue to do individually foolish and careless things at the expense of others until they are held accountable for their actions more so than the establishments they frequent and put in jeopardy.

Oh, and thanks for the online portal to report COVID-19 cases.  That makes life easier.  

Now is the time to permanently put in place the high standards we've had to live by for 9 months, anyway!  Businesses implement safety measures, like wiping surfaces between customers, keeping safe distances with seating assignments and in lines, washing hands diligently, and wearing masks.  These and other practices make sense and have been shown to significanty help to protect us all from contagious diseases.  I support all reasonable safety measures and hope they become habits, as much as possible.  We may control COVID 19 today, but know there will be others in the future to combat.  

Though we don't want over-regulation, we need to adapt in order to assure our health and safety.

Thank you,

Lois Sandy

Charlottesville, VA

The temporary standard enacted in late July 2020 was helpful in making workplaces open for business while protecting employees.  The six-month standard needs to continue!  Vaccines may be on their way but not fast enough and with enough uncertainty that herd immunity is not right around the corner.  Thinking even longer-term, these standards are also useful for other airborne, communicable diseases.  There are provisions for situations of unattainable and cost-prohibitive PPE to protect business owners from unwarranted litigation but does make them accountable for non-pandemic care for their employees health.  Please consider making this (or something very like it) a permanent standard that will improve community health even after COVID is under control.

Dear Board Members,

Thank you for proposing this permanent standard to protect Virginia’s workers.  As a local pastor in a congregation that relates to many immigrant workers, I see the very real need to  adopt the proposed permanent standard before the temporary standard ends.  Our Shenandoah Valley poultry workers are especially vulnerable in the plants where they work and these permanent protections will improve their quality of life and public health.

Employers have a moral responsibility to protect their workers from COVID-19 and without these standards we cannot assume that employers will do all they can to protect workers.  

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Rev. Jennifer Davis Sensenig

Community Mennonite Church

Harrisonburg, VA  22801

Thank you to the Safety and Health Codes Board and the Department of Labor and Industry for adopting the emergency standard in the wake of COVID-19.  I strongly urge you to make this standard permanent. The standards help to ensure that employers incorporate social distancing and transparency, and they prohibit retaliation against workers who assert their right to a safe workplace. 

Please make this standard permanent to protect Virginia's workers. 

Workers should not risk life or health by merely going to work.  No worker should be exposed to the virus.  Temporary standards should be made permanent.  

Virginia must stay committed to its workforce and protect them from COVID-19 with a strong, permanent COVID-19 OSHA standard.

This pandemic is far from over. Even with vaccines, it will take a long time to build immunity in the population and strong workplace safety protections will continue to be needed.

this pandemic has shown the need for worker and workplace protections to ensure viable standards are consistent across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The  temporary 

We need Permanent Standards.Covid cases. We are losing lived one's every second. Please make thus mandatory.

The safety standards that were set for Virginias workers must remain in place until this virus is eradicated.

The definitions of face covering and surgical mask in the proposed standard apparently aim to categorically disqualify, for reason unclear, use of surgical masks as face coverings.  As an unintended result, the terminology has potential to increase employee risk, eliminate highly effective face covering options and thereby trigger a rush to buy compliant face coverings which may result in inadequate availability.  

Consider the following.

Face coverings are readily available which are made of ultra-thin, two ply fabric.   These products are targeted at the consumer who values comfort over all else. 

Surgical masks are readily available which are made of 3 LAYERS of meltblown polypropylene FABRIC.  This material is in fact WASHABLE and BREATHABLE.  When properly fitted, such masks provide SNUG FIT WITHOUT GAPS.  By these metrics, such surgical masks satisfy the face covering definition in the standard. if not for their dispenser box bearing the label "surgical mask". 

Comparing the efficacy of the two types of product described above would likely find the "face covering" desperately inferior to the "surgical mask".   

If DOLI is interested in requiring face coverings to have specified characteristics, then those specifications should be clear, unambiguous and without subjectivity.  As the language stands now, although well intended, it risks forcing employers to abandon effective masks for less effective face coverings.  That's not sensible.  

I pray that the state of Virginia will maintain all safety standards for state and government employees during the covet19 and ensure that all personal receive the vaccine when it becomes available. Myself and my fellow employees hope that health and safety standards will be continually up held during the covet19 crisis.

Make the Emergency temporary standards full time 

the state should do all they can to protect the workers

Establishing a permanent Protective Standard is necessary to protect workers from conditions that allow COVID-19 and other infectious diseases to spread easily. Workers are on the frontlines fighting this illness, we need to support them.