Top Oregon Health Official Floats Indefinite Extension To COVID Restrictions

The head of Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, or OSHA, is calling for a permanent rule that would effectively extend the state’s temporary COVID-19 workplace guidelines indefinitely.

The proposed permanent rule would maintain face-covering requirements and social distancing protocols from the November 2020 temporary rule and introduce new restrictions. The temporary rule is set to expire May 4.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” said OSHA’s administrator, Michael Wood, according to a Saturday article from The Associated Press.

But when it comes to extending the current, temporary rule, Wood does not have Oregon law on his side.

A technicality in state law means that the only way for the restrictions to be extended is for a permanent rule to be made. The proposal in question would maintain certain rules until such a time as they are “no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace.”

“As with the temporary rule,” the state of Oregon said in a news release, “the proposed permanent rule maintains such requirements as physical distancing; use of face coverings; regular sanitation; employee notification and training; maximization and maintenance of existing ventilation systems; and formal exposure risk assessment and infection control planning. The proposed permanent rule would allow employers to rely upon the risk assessments, infection control plans, and infection control training already completed.”