Pandemic Preparedness Plan
COVID Help Center & Resources
The pandemic continues to bring challenges for every business. OECS will continue to assist you and help navigate these difficult times by sharing best practices we’ve learned across hundreds of businesses that could improve your safety and productivity and guiding you on how to handle the COVID-related impacts to your worker’s comp premiums. We’re here to help you protect the health and safety of your employees and business.
emergency temporary standard (ETS) on vaccination and testing
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is withdrawing the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard issued on Nov. 5, 2021, to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers with 100 or more employees from workplace exposure to coronavirus. The withdrawal is effective January 26, 2022.
Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule. The agency is prioritizing its resources to focus on finalizing a permanent COVID-19 Healthcare Standard.
Click here for more information on the ruling, and refer to the statement released from U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.
Building confidence in covid-19 vaccines
Vaccinate with Confidence is the strategic framework of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen vaccine confidence and prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States.
The CDC created the Workplaces and Businesses web page to help employers protect their employees with a variety of tools, including vaccination. The web page includes information on COVID-19 vaccines, post-vaccination considerations for workplaces, and information on other preventive measures.
quarantine and Isolation
On January 4, CDC updated COVID-19 isolation and quarantine recommendations with shorter isolation (for asymptomatic and mildly ill people) and quarantine periods of 5 days to focus on the period when a person is most infectious, followed by continued masking for an additional 5 days. These updated recommendations also facilitate individual social and well-being needs, return to work, and maintenance of critical infrastructure.
With the recommended shorter isolation and quarantine periods, it is critical that people continue to wear well-fitting masks and take additional precautions for 5 days after leaving isolation or quarantine. In addition, isolation should only end if a person has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and other symptoms have resolved.
Here to Help
Please reach out (763-417-9599) if you have questions or need clarification on the ETS.
Videos and Webinars
OECS COVID-19 Action Plan for Business (6/25/2020)
OECS The Business Case for Safety Webinar (May 13, 2020)
COVID-19 Prevention and Response
Training Resources and Guidance:
- OECS Toolbox Talk COVID-19 (April 28, 2020)
- Dealing with Suspected or Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in your Workplace (June 18, 2020)
- COVID-19 7-Point Check List
Fact Sheets:
- CDC COVID-19 Fact Sheet
- Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers from the Department of Homeland Security
- NAICS Critical Employer list
- New CDC DIY Cloth Face Cover Instructions
- NEW CDC Interim Guidance for Implementing Safety Practices for COVID 19
- Essential Critical Worker Do’s and Don’ts
Minnesota:
- MN Safety Council COVID-19 Checklist
- MN Worker protections related to COVID-19
- MN Executive Order 20-20
- Stay at Home MN COVID-19
- State of MN Stay at Home Order 20-33
- MN Emergency Executive Order 20-40; Allowing Workers to Return to Safe Workplaces (April 24, 2020)
- MN EO 20-48 Emergency Executive Order 20-48 Extending and Modifying Stay at Home Order, Continuing Temporary Closure of Bars, Restaurants, and Other Places of Public Accommodation, and Allowing Additional Workers in Certain Non-Critical Sectors to Return to Safe Workplaces (May 3, 2020)
- MN EO 20-54 Emergency Executive Order 20-54 Protecting Workers from Unsafe Working Conditions and Retaliation During the COVID-19 Peacetime Emergency (May 13, 2020)
- MN EO 20-56 Emergency Executive Order 20-56 Safely Reopening Minnesota’s Economy and Ensuring Safe Non-Work Activities during the COVID-19 Peacetime Emergency (May 13, 2020)
- MN EO 20-63 Continuing to Safely Reopen Minnesota’s Economy and Ensure Safe Non-Work Activities during the COVID-19 Peacetime Emergency (June 18, 2020)
- MN EO 20-74 Continuing to Safely Reopen Minnesota’s Economy and Ensure Safe Non-Work Activities during the COVID-19 Peacetime Emergency (June 18, 2020)
- MN COVID-19 Weekly Report 06-18-2020 (June 18, 2020)
- MN Worker Protections for COVID-19 June 2020 (June 18, 2020)
Wisconsin:
- Wisconsin Safer at Home Fact Sheet
- Wisconsin Safer at Home Fact Sheet (Spanish)
- Wisconsin Safer at Home Order FAQ’s
- Wisconsin Safer at Home Executive Order #12
- WI EO #36 Interim Order to Turn the Dial (May 11, 2020)
South Dakota:
North Dakota:
OSHA Links:
- OSHA Prevent Worker Exposure
- OSHA COVID-19 webpage
- OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19
Posters:
- CDC Hand Washing Poster
- Spanish-Prevent Worker Exposure
- Workplace School and Home Guidance
- MN Department of Health Self-Isolation Poster
- What to do if you are sick with COVID-19
- FFCRA Poster (Non-Federal Employees)
- FFCRA Poster (Federal Employees)
- OSHA 10 Steps Poster
- Self-Isolation Poster
Other Links:
- CDC COVID-19 Self-Checker
- 30 Days to Slow the Spread – The President’s Guidelines
- CDC Travel Warning updates
- MN Department of Health COVID-19 link
- CDC Guidance for Businesses and Employers
- New temporary guidance on the enforcement of the Respiratory Protection standard during the COVID-19 outbreak
- World Health Organization YouTube video
- FFCRA FAQ
CONTACT US
Contact OECS for timely and professional solutions to workplace safety questions, issues, hazards, or concerns. Our safety consultants are available 24/7 to ensure your safety needs are met.