Between October 23 and 29th, OSHA, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, issued nearly $500,000 in citations against 35 employers for failing to protect workers from COVID-19. Those additional citations bring proposed penalties against employers to nearly $2.5 million, as OSHA has announced.

Those employers have been fined for various violations including failure to implement a written respiratory protection program, failure to implement a written respiratory protection program, failure to fit test and provide training on proper use of respirators, failure to report an injury, illness, or fatality, and failure to comply with the general duty clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The general duty clause of the OSH Act states that each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.

OSHA has recently issued guidance to help employers to understand what coronavirus standards are being most cited. The most cited standards include personal protective equipment, respiratory protection, reporting and recording of injuries and illness, and general duty clause violations. The guidance also encourages employers to give workers medical evaluations, keep respiratory protection programs up to date, and provide PPE, PPE training, and PPE storage.