Cal-OSHA’s new workplace safety rules don’t follow science or common sense

Follow the science. That’s been the watchword throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Those that follow the facts — be they politicians, regulators, businesses or individuals — are much better off today than those that don’t.

As an association that supports California’s 6,000 hotels and their 235,000 employees, the California Hotel and Lodging Association has been acutely engaged throughout the pandemic with federal, state and local health leaders to provide our guests and workers with the best safety protocols that scientific data provides.

On June 3, the Standards Board of the California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA), which governs workplace safety rules, made a mockery of its regulatory role by not following science, and, perhaps most importantly, not using common sense.

Fully out of sync with mask-wearing guidance from most federal and state agencies that are following COVID-19 data, the Standards Board passed rules that mandate all employees to wear masks when in the same room if anyone in a workplace is unvaccinated. Workers are allowed to not wear masks when everyone in a room is vaccinated. Only hours earlier, the board rejected the same rules.

To add to the confusion, the board immediately appointed a three-person subcommittee to revise the approved rules as soon as possible. By the way, the new regulation takes effect June 15, the very same day Gov. Gavin Newsom has pronounced that California is supposed to open up and go in the opposite direction.

This cumbersome regulatory process and failure to follow the science has consequences, and they will be immediate. Cal-OSHA puts the burden of vaccine and mask enforcement on businesses with little guidance as to how that can be done while adhering to privacy policies. Employers are now required to wade into the minefield of determining who is vaccinated and who is not.

The rules contradict what Newsom, the California Department of Public Health and, importantly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are allowing. As a result, hotels and other workplaces are at risk by enforcing a policy that doesn’t match those of other highly respected regulators. This jumble of conflicting healthcare information is likely to pit employees against each other — many of whom are exhausted from following mask-wearing guidance for more than a year — producing so-called “vaccine bullies.”

Under Cal-OSHA’s ruling, the following scenario is plausible: A restaurant server, in his role as an employee, is mandated to wear a mask while working. After his shift, the server could become a guest at the very same restaurant he works at and not wear a mask while dining. Cal-OSHA’s absurd logic suggests the COVID-19 virus can distinguish between workers and guests.

Nobody benefits from this inconsistent, uncertain guidance.

The California Hotel and Lodging Association calls on Newsom to use the power of his office to put an end to these ridiculous rules and issue an executive order that:

▪ Suspends the regulation

▪ Makes it crystal clear that all employees have the option of getting vaccinated and, by doing so, assuring themselves that they have the best protection available from COVID-19

An executive order is the only rational way to go now. By issuing it, Newsom would bring desperately needed clarity to both what an employee’s responsibility is and what the employer’s responsibility is. Our state, our employees, the general public and our hotels need common sense to prevail and genuine leadership to guide us toward the path of full recovery.

This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 12:24 PM.