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Law360 (April 22, 2020, 1:29 PM EDT) -- Wearing masks and staying six feet apart in work trailers can help keep construction workers safe during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday provided a list of safety tips for employers to help protect construction workers from exposure to the virus. OSHA is the subagency within the Department of Labor that sets and enforces workplace safety rules.
Allowing workers to wear masks over their nose and mouth and training them on how to properly wear and use protective clothing and equipment are among the steps employers can take, OSHA said.
Other key measures include encouraging workers to stay home if they are sick and to report any health and safety concerns, OSHA said. Employees, contractors and visitors should be told to stay six feet apart on site when possible, and if work trailers are used, workers should practice social distancing while inside the trailers, the announcement said.
Employers can also provide alcohol-based hand sanitizer and use approved cleaning chemicals to disinfect sites, OSHA said.
The alert is OSHA's latest effort to provide safety advice during the pandemic. The agency has issued advice for manufacturing, pharmacy, retail and delivery workers, building on its earlier guidance listing steps employers should take to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The agency also issued a temporary enforcement plan in mid-April to guide field offices dealing with coronavirus-related workplace safety incidents. The plan detailed how regional offices and on-site inspectors can assess a workplace's COVID-19 risk level and said field officers should be trained to identify workers likely to have COVID-19.
So far, OSHA has largely focused on issuing advice rather than imposing new legal obligations on employers, although some members of Congress have pushed for mandated federal protections on top of the recent paid sick leave expansion.
An OSHA representative told Law360 that the agency has been involved in outreach with unions and other groups regarding worker safety and is investigating complaints. The latest guidance for construction workers provides practical steps that can contribute to slowing or stopping the virus's spread, the representative said.
--Additional reporting by Kevin Stawicki, Adam Lidgett, Braden Campbell, Lauren Berg and Vin Gurrieri. Editing by Daniel King.
Update: This story has been updated with comment from OSHA.
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