Most NAATs need to be processed in a laboratory with variable time to receive results approximately 1—2 days , but some NAATs are point-of-care tests, including a limited number of over-the-counter OTC tests, with results available in about 15—45 minutes.
Antigen tests indicate current infection by detecting the presence of a specific viral antigen. Antigen tests generally have similar specificity to, but are less sensitive than, NAATs.
To be a valid COVID test under this standard, a test may not be both self-administered and self-read unless observed by the employer or an authorized telehealth proctor. If an OTC test is being used, it must be used in accordance with the authorized instructions. The employer can validate the test through the use of a proctored test that is supervised by an authorized telehealth provider. Alternatively, the employer could proctor the OTC test itself.
Yes; however, to satisfy the requirements of the standard an over-the-counter OTC test may not be both self-administered and self-read unless observed by the employer or an authorized telehealth proctor. OSHA included the requirement for some type of independent confirmation of the test result in order to ensure the integrity of the result.
This independent confirmation can be accomplished in multiple ways, including through the involvement of a licensed healthcare provider or a point-of-care test provider. If an OTC test is being used, the employer can validate the test through the use of a proctored test that is supervised by an authorized telehealth provider.
OTC Tests that feature digital reporting of date and time stamped results are not considered to be "self-read" and therefore observation by the employer or an authorized telehealth proctor is not required.
OSHA has determined that there are sufficient COVID tests available and adequate laboratory capacity to meet the anticipated increased testing demand related to compliance with the ETS testing requirements. The FDA has authorized point-of-care tests that can be used at a place of employment when the facility is operating under a CLIA certificate of waiver. However, a CLIA certificate of waiver is not required for over-the-counter employee self-tests that are observed by employers.
The ETS encourages vaccination, and most employers can comply with the ETS by requiring their employees to become fully vaccinated, which will avoid any increased need for testing. But even if most employers were to forgo that option, and most of their employees were to choose not to be vaccinated, there would still be adequate testing capacity.
Following that review, OSHA determined that there is sufficient testing capacity to meet the anticipated increased testing demand related to compliance with the ETS testing option and found that the standard is technologically feasible. Because antigen testing in point-of-care locations will typically produce results within minutes, the use of antigen testing should not result in an inability to provide the employer with test results in a timely fashion. Employers must ensure that each employee who is not "fully vaccinated" complies with the testing requirements in paragraph g 1 of this ETS, including weekly testing for employees who report at least once every 7 days to a workplace where other individuals such as coworkers or customers are present.
In the case of a two-dose primary vaccination series e. Therefore, employers would need to ensure employees continue to test weekly until 2 weeks after receiving their second dose. However, employers have until February 9, to comply with the testing requirement in paragraph g , and employees who have completed the entire primary vaccination by that date do not have to be tested, even if they have not yet completed the 2-week waiting period.
A digitally-read test, which produces a date and time stamped result e. Tests that are digitally read in this way reduce the potential for falsified results by ensuring a new test result is generated each week and each test is used only once. The test must otherwise be administered in accordance with the authorized instructions provided for the test e. A self-administered and self-read over-the-counter OTC test would not satisfy the requirements of the ETS, even if employees submit photographs of the OTC test results after.
Photographs of test results are not a substitute for observation by the employer or an authorized telehealth proctor. However, employers must not observe more OTC tests at a time than they are able to validate with confidence. OSHA included the requirement for independent confirmation of the test result in order to ensure the integrity of the result. Observing the COVID test in real-time ensures the integrity of the results in a way that is not accomplished through retroactive review of videos made by employees.
OSHA included the requirement for some type of independent confirmation of the test result, which can be accomplished in multiple ways, including through the involvement of a licensed healthcare provider or a point-of-care test provider.
The employer may validate the test through the use of a proctored test that is supervised by an authorized telehealth provider. Alternatively, the employer could proctor the OTC test itself e. For results obtained during tests observed or conducted by the employer, OSHA will accept various forms of documentation to meet the requirements of Employer-observers may document the test result through a written statement e.
This documentation must be preserved by the employer. Similarly, the record maintenance requirements cannot be fulfilled if an employee merely shows the employer their documentation of the test result or the employer simply observes the test result e.
Rather, the employer must make a record of the test result to satisfy g 4. Examples of tests that satisfy the ETS requirements include tests with specimens that are processed by a laboratory including home or on-site collected specimens which are processed either individually or as pooled specimens , proctored over-the-counter OTC tests, point of care tests, and tests where specimen collection and processing is either done or observed by an employer.
Employers have the flexibility to select the testing scenario that is most appropriate for their workplace. Some employees and employers may rely on testing that is conducted by a healthcare provider e. The involvement of licensed or accredited healthcare providers allows employers to have a high degree of confidence in the suitability of the test and the test results. Other employers may simply require that employees perform and read their own OTC test while an authorized telehealth proctor observes the administration and reading of the test to ensure that a new test kit was used and that the test was administered properly e.
Additionally, employers may allow the use of OTC tests that feature digital reporting of date and time stamped results. If an employer conducts pooled testing for COVID, a positive pooled test result would trigger a need to immediately re-test those employees in the pool using an individual COVID test because the positive pooled result would not satisfy the requirements of paragraph g.
Only those employees who test positive on their individual re-test would need to be removed from the workplace. Promptly notifying the employer means notifying the employer as soon as practicable before the employee is scheduled to start their shift or return to work. In the event that the employee is in the workplace when they receive a positive COVID test result or diagnosis of COVID, promptly notifying the employer means notifying the employer as soon as safely possible while avoiding exposing any other individuals in the workplace.
This ETS does not require employers to provide paid time off to any employee for removal as a result of a positive COVID test or diagnosis of COVID; however, paid time off may be required by other laws, regulations, or collective bargaining agreements or other collectively negotiated agreements.
On the other hand, the ETS does not preclude employers from choosing to pay employees for time required for removal under this standard. This provision, while not placing the burden on the employer to provide paid time off, should not be read as depriving employees of the benefits they are normally entitled to as part of their employment. According to the FDA , there is a small possibility for employees to receive false positive test results when conducting regular screening with an antigen test.
Positive results are usually highly accurate at moderate-to-high peak viral load, but false positives can occur, depending on the course of infection. If an employee tested positive for COVID via an antigen test, but then received follow-up confirmatory testing via a NAAT and the NAAT was negative, the positive antigen test can be considered a false positive and the employee can return to work. If the original positive test result did not occur using an antigen test i.
The standard does not require the removal of an unvaccinated employee if they have been exposed to a COVID positive person. All unvaccinated workers must wear face coverings and submit to weekly COVID testing, but employers are only required to remove employees if they have tested positive for or been diagnosed with COVID Any time an employee is required to be removed from the workplace, the employer can require the employee to work remotely or in isolation if suitable work is available and if the employee is not too ill to work.
In cases where working remotely or in isolation is not possible, OSHA encourages employers to consider flexible and creative solutions, such as a temporary reassignment to a different position that can be performed by telework.
Employers should follow state and local public health guidance for contact tracing. This also includes confirmed cases of COVID identified under paragraph h that an employer determines are work-related. Under 29 CFR part , employers must generally provide access to the log to employees, former employees, and their representatives with the names of injured or ill employees included on the form.
If, however, the employee requests that their name not be entered on the log, the employer must treat their illness as a privacy concern case and may not enter their name on the log see 29 CFR If gaiters are worn, they should have two layers of fabric or be folded to make two layers; 4 fits snugly over the nose, mouth, and chin with no large gaps on the outside of the face; and 5 is a solid piece of material without slits, exhalation valves, visible holes, punctures, or other openings.
Face coverings can be manufactured or homemade, and they can incorporate a variety of designs, structures, and materials. Face coverings provide variable levels of protection based on their design and construction.
Only employees who are not fully vaccinated are required to wear a face covering under the standard when indoors and when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes, with exceptions listed in the next FAQ 8.
However, the employer must not prevent any employee, regardless of vaccination status, from voluntarily wearing a face covering or facemask unless the employer can demonstrate that doing so would create a hazard. The employer must ensure that each employee who is not fully vaccinated wears a face covering when indoors and when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes, except:.
The employer must also comply with The mini respiratory protection program is designed to strengthen employee protections with a small set of provisions for the safe use of respirators designed to be easier and faster to implement than the more comprehensive respiratory protection program under 29 CFR The employer must inform each employee, in a language and at a literacy level the employee understands, about:.
The manner in which employers provide the required information to employees may vary based on the size and type of workplace. Employers have flexibility to communicate this information to employees using any effective methods that are typically used in their workplaces, and may choose any method of informing employees so long as each employee receives the information specified in the standard in a language and at a literacy level they understand.
For example, an employer may provide this information to employees through email communications, printed fact sheets, or during a discussion at a regularly scheduled team meeting. There are no formal training requirements. The ETS does not specify the frequency with which employers must provide information to employees. For example, an employer may initially opt to allow only paper copies as proof of COVID test results. Over time, however, the employer may decide that it wants to accept electronic proof of test results.
If that employer modifies its policy to permit employees to submit electronic proof of test results, the employer must inform employees of any new or altered policies and procedures that the employer implements as a result. Information requirements are routine components of OSHA standards.
The inclusion of information requirements in this ETS reflects the agency's conviction that informed employees are essential to the implementation of any effective occupational safety and health policy or procedure.
OSHA believes that providing this information to employees will help increase the number of employees vaccinated and will facilitate effective implementation of the standard by employers.
An employer is only required to report work-related COVID fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations. Applying the criteria in 29 CFR For more information, OSHA has prepared a fact sheet explaining these reporting requirements. Employers have three options for reporting work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations to OSHA:. The ETS states that the employer must make available, for examination and copying, the individual COVID vaccine documentation and any COVID test results required by the ETS for a particular employee to that employee and to anyone having written authorized consent of that employee by the end of the next business day after a request.
Providing OSHA with prompt access to the written policy and the aggregate numbers allows the agency to more rapidly focus inspections on employers that may not be in compliance with the requirements of this ETS.
In addition, this information will help OSHA determine what to focus on in an investigation. Without the provision of this information to employees and their representatives, the only potential check on whether the employer is complying with the requirements of the ETS would be OSHA inspections. The agency believes that making this information available to employee representatives will help ensure compliance with the requirements of the ETS and thereby protect workers.
Employees, employee representatives, and OSHA can submit requests in any manner that provides adequate notice of the request to the employer. This may include requests by in writing e. Although the ETS becomes effective immediately, employers are not required to comply with the requirements of the ETS until the compliance dates, as follows:.
Determine vaccination status of each employee, obtain acceptable proof of vaccination, maintain records and roster of vaccination status paragraph e. Ensure employees who are not fully vaccinated wear face coverings when indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes paragraph i.
Provide each employee information about the ETS; workplace policies and procedures; vaccination efficacy, safety and benefits; protections against retaliation and discrimination; and laws that provide for criminal penalties for knowingly supplying false documentation paragraph j. Ensure employees who are not fully vaccinated are tested for COVID at least weekly if in the workplace at least once a week or within 7 days before returning to work if away from the workplace for a week or longer paragraph g.
If an employee completes the entire primary vaccination series by February 9, , that employee does not have to be tested under paragraph g , even if the employee has not yet completed the two-week waiting period that is required to meet the definition of fully vaccinated in paragraph c. Employers must begin compliance with the testing requirements of paragraph g only for employees who have not yet received the requisite number of doses for a primary vaccination series i.
Because the timing of doses for the three main vaccination series available in the U. Employers and employees should note that this is not a complete list of vaccinations that are acceptable under the ETS. However, OSHA will continue to monitor trends in COVID infections and deaths as more of the workforce and the general population become vaccinated and the pandemic continues to evolve.
Where OSHA finds a grave danger from the virus no longer exists for the covered workforce or some portion thereof , or new information indicates a change in measures is necessary to address the grave danger, OSHA will update the ETS, as appropriate.
The public comment period is now open and OSHA has decided to extend it by 45 days. Written comments on any aspect of this ETS and whether the ETS should become a final rule must now be submitted by January 19, to www. The public comments will allow OSHA to gather information, diverse perspectives, and technical expertise to help the agency in considering next steps. Fredrick Echols, acting director of health for the city of St. Louis, said more than St.
The seven-day average is hovering above 8, cases, according to health ministry statistics. The total reported death toll is at 50, While mask mandates remain, compliance has visibly dropped. People travelled for a nine-day holiday to seaside towns where distancing and masking rules were not followed. Experts are worried the highly contagious delta variant could have spread across the country. The most recent figures for variant cases were released by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on July 13, when he said there were infections in Turkey — up from a week earlier.
Items like snacks, candy and personal hygiene products typically are offered to inmates in prison stores. Nearly all of the latest infections and deaths are among people who have not been vaccinated, health officials have said. The variant is boosting cases and deaths globally after a period of decline, and the World Health Organization anticipates it will become dominant within months. The race is on to vaccinate as many Brazilians as possible.
Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga says getting more of the population vaccinated the best way to stop the variant, but he insists that Brazil must resume its economic activities.
Analysts say the figures are vast undercounts due to lack of testing and genome sequencing. Most new coronavirus cases in vaccinated people have been mild or asymptomatic.
Soaring hospitalizations of mostly unvaccinated COVID patients are putting medical staffs in Louisiana under stress for a fourth time, as state officials plead for people to get the shots that can prevent the disease.
The highly contagious delta variant has become the dominant strain of the coronavirus in Louisiana and around the country. John Bel Edwards planned to address the latest surge Friday. Our team of top engineers, designers, and data specialists have put their whole heart into crafting a simple, powerful test plus tech solution to help everyone stay safe.
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