Longer Pandemic, More Employer Obligations: The Latest from OSHA and How it Affects Your Restaurant

4 Min Read By Katy Willis

In the most recent of a series of guidance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace,” on January 29. The guidance informs employees of what they should know. In addition, the guidance, while characterized by OSHA as making recommendations that are “advisory in nature,” appear to impose additional obligations on employers to make their workplaces safe for employees as the COVID-19 pandemic trudges into 2021. It is worth noting that OSHA is, in fact, conducting workplace inspections and issuing citations for failure to provide a workplace free of serious hazards relating to COVID-19.

OSHA’s January 29, 2021 guidance reminds employees of the following:

Social distancing of at least six feet is one of the best ways to protect yourself from exposure to COVID-19. For restaurant employees, this includes both co-workers and customers. Practicing good…