Infectious Disease Rulemaking

On Feb. 7, 2022, the Oregon Health Authority announced its adoption of permanent indoor mask requirements and a timeline for removing general mask requirements for indoor public places and schools. Oregon OSHA's rule requires employers to follow OHA's requirement to use facial coverings indoors, so when the OHA rule changes, Oregon OSHA's will as well.

Oregon OSHA's rule also requires employers to implement other measures, including infection control planning, exposure risk assessments, sanitation, and notification. Oregon OSHA will re-engage with stakeholders, including rule advisory committees, over the next few weeks to discuss other changes to the division's rule addressing COVID-19 in the workplace.

The division's process of engaging with stakeholders, in light of OHA's announcement, is consistent with its previous steps to adapt its requirements as the pandemic and guidance have evolved.

Oregon OSHA has already removed nearly all physical distancing from its COVID-19 rule (some remain for high-risk settings such as health care and for transit) and has already relaxed sanitation provisions. The division also has removed some industry-specific appendices while simplifying others.

As Oregon OSHA has publicly stated previously, its intent is to repeal the entire rule once it is no longer necessary to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Oregon workplaces.

Overview

The COVID-19 emergency has highlighted the risks that any infectious disease, particularly one that is airborne, can create for a wide variety of workplaces. As a result of both the immediate and long-term risks highlighted by the current public and occupational health crisis, Oregon OSHA is responding to the request that the state adopts an enforceable workplace health rule on an emergency basis this summer, to be replaced by a permanent rule. This high-level timeline treats these as two essentially different projects, in both nature and scope, recognizing that an ongoing infectious disease rule would not be as closely tailored to the current crisis as would a temporary rule. It also assumes health care (and related activities) and the general workplace would require distinct (although interrelated) sets of requirements.

In both cases, Oregon OSHA plans to rely upon as much collaboration and consultation with experts and with stakeholders as the timeframes involved and other circumstances allow. In the case of the temporary rule(s), this will primarily be through targeted virtual forums and the circulation of a draft prior to a decision on adoption. In the case of the permanent rule(s), Oregon OSHA will be empaneling two rulemaking advisory committees in addition to employing targeted virtual forums and circulation of preproposal drafts.

Documents

Adopted and effective December 21, 2021
Amended Rules Addressing the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency in All Oregon Workplaces
Rule text

Employers need NOT submit their exposure risk assessment, infection control plans, employee training information, etc. to the Agency in advance for review or approval.

Model Policy for Notification of Employees when COVID-19 Exposure Occurs

Word document and PDF
Spanish - PDF and Word document

HVAC Certification Documentation

Fill-in Word document, or print version

Exposure Risk Assessment Form

*Fill-in Word document, or print version

Infection Control Plan

*Fill-in Word document, Spanish, and Print version

Training materials in English and
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A training verification form is not required by the rule, but we are providing one as a courtesy.

* The following Risk Assessments and Infectious Control Plans are provided as examples, and may not reflect every situation or all hazards in your workplace. These sample programs should only be used as reference sources and not as a replacement of conducting a Hazard Assessment or Infection Control Plan specific to your workers and workplace.