OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard Advances to White House

ACEC News / Advocacy

October 15, 2021

OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard Advances to White House

ACEC has heard from a number of member firms regarding the challenges that federal COVID-19 mandates will pose on the A/E industry.

In addition to Executive Order 14042 (see post below), which imposes a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on federal contractors working with the government, we are closely monitoring a similar mandate that applies to all firms with 100 or more employees.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has drafted the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that would require employees of all companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The ETS is currently under review at the Office of Management and Budget. 

On Friday, ACEC met with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Department of Labor to express the A/E industry’s concerns and challenges with navigating this ETS,

We will not know the exact contents until it is published in the Federal Register but in its six-point plan “Path out of the Pandemic,” the White House stated:

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work. OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees.

We expect this ETS to take effect immediately upon publication, although it may include a delay for businesses to achieve compliance.

ACEC will circulate the ETS as soon as it is published. 

In the meantime, the Council would appreciate knowing your concerns about implementing a vaccine mandate at your firm.  Send your feedback to Katharine Mottley or Dan Hilton. 

All comments to blog posts will be moderated by ACEC staff.