Virginia Issues Permanent COVID-19 Standard

In July 2020, the Safety and Health Codes Board of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry approved an emergency temporary standard for COVID-19. In so doing, Virginia became the first state to issue such a temporary standard. On January 13, 2021, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board enacted a permanent standard for COVID-19. The "Final Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus that Causes COVID-19" will be enforced by the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program (VOSH) and is anticipated to take effect on January 27, 2021.

The permanent standard largely reiterates the provisions and requirements of the emergency temporary standard, and, for the most part, employers that are already in compliance with the emergency temporary standard will be able to comply with the permanent standard by maintaining existing policies and practices. However, there are several material modifications within the permanent standard,