Changes to COVID-19 Prevention Standards Likely Coming Soon

By Teresa Anderson, Public Policy Director, The Arc/UCP California Collaboration

On December 15, 2022, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board adopted new non-emergency regulations which are now on their way to be approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).  The OAL has 30 working days to complete the review, and if approved, the new regulations will go into effect within the first quarter of 2023 (most likely before the February deadline for lifting the emergency public health order) and remain effective for 2 years. The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has issued and update that provides important information on changes to the COVID-19 Prevention Regulations as well as changes to definitions of “close contact” and “exposed group”. The full update can be read here: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/Non-Emergency-regs-summary.pdf