COVID-19: OSHA Updates Two Key Enforcement Guidance Documents

I. Introduction

In recent weeks, many businesses have resumed or expanded operations to varying degrees as states and local jurisdictions have issued reopening orders. That means many "non-essential" employees have been or soon will be returning to workplaces across the country, joining the employees of critical infrastructure or "essential" businesses who have continued working throughout the pandemic. Recognizing the growing number of employees returning to work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on May 19, 2020, issued updates to two COVID-19 guidance documents addressing the Agency's enforcement discretion and priorities. The first revised guidance document, Revised Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), updates OSHA guidance issued in April and provides more detail on employers' recording obligations related to COVID-19 cases. The second updated guidance document, Updated Interim Enforcement