Cal/OSHA’s Readopted ETS Officially Takes Effect

As of today, the second readoption of Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) has officially gone into effect.

Since it was voted on in December, there have been multiple updates from the state affecting the workplace requirements within this rulemaking. Just last week, Cal/OSHA updated their FAQs to reflect the guidance released by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which included the recommendation of “additional mitigation measures, including continued focus on testing and masking to best contain this more transmissible variant in our communities.” As a reminder, in accordance with Executive Order N-84-20, the CDPH’s isolation and quarantine recommendations override the ETS.

Once again, Cal/OSHA has revised the “CDPH Isolation and Quarantine” section of their FAQ page to remove the “Antigen test preferred” from table 2 of the exclusion requirements. (To view the KSC Update with these tables, click here.) This revision suggests that applicable employees may use at-home testing kits when required to test negative on a diagnostic specimen in order to return to work. View Update