In May, New York State passed the New York Health and Essential
Rights ("HERO") Act, which took effect on June 4,
2021. The HERO Act imposes many workplace safety requirements
on employers with the aim of preventing the spread of COVID-19
and other airborne diseases. Among those requirements is the
obligation to implement an industry-specific health and safety
plan. Last week, the New York State Department of Labor
("NYS DOL") released model prevention plans for employer
use. Employers have 30 days from the release of the model
prevention plans-until August 5, 2021-to adopt their own plan.
Currently, the NYS DOL website provides a general model
prevention plan, along with model prevention plans for the
following industries: agriculture, construction, delivery services,
domestic workers, emergency response, food service, manufacturing
and industry, personal services, private education, private
transportation, and retail. Employers are free to adopt these
model
