www.bloomberglaw.com Open in urlscan Pro
69.191.249.91  Public Scan

Submitted URL: https://www.bloomberglaw.com/exp/eyJjdHh0IjoiRExOVyIsImlkIjoiMDAwMDAxN2UtNzhiNS1kNzcxLWExN2YtN2VmNTZmNGMwMDAxIiwic2lnIjoidkNk...
Effective URL: https://www.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberglawnews/exp/eyJjdHh0IjoiRExOVyIsImlkIjoiMDAwMDAxN2UtNzhiNS1kNzcxLWExN2YtN2VmNTZmNGMwMDA...
Submission: On January 26 via api from US — Scanned from DE

Form analysis 1 forms found in the DOM

POST /client_matter/session/create

<form id="startClientMatterSessionForm" action="/client_matter/session/create" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="post"><input name="utf8" type="hidden" value="✓"><input type="hidden" name="authenticity_token"
    value="HBwyPU1TBiFwEEfbpFMHnnA/c42TWaqSJxV+se6o47JG1oxIkA4DdEwV+lvW76j1ADV32KHxIJVgb4cxTDu7eg==">
  <input type="hidden" name="create_client_matter" id="create_client_matter" value="false">
  <div class="content">
    <div class="informativeParagraph"> Your firm optionally allows a client matter to be selected while you are using Bloomberg Law. Please contact your administrator if you have any questions. Please select from a recently used Client Matter or
      enter a Client Matter manually. </div>
    <div class="errors">
      <div class="error" id="clientMatterLabelErrors" style="display:none"></div>
      <div class="error" id="attorneyNumberLabelErrors" style="display:none"></div>
    </div>
    <div class="recents">
      <div class="title"> RECENTLY USED </div>
      <div class="items">
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="input">
      <div class="title"> CLIENT MATTER </div>
      <div class="inputContainer"><input type="text" name="client_matter_label" id="client_matter_label" value="" autocomplete="off" class="autocompleteTextField input_auto autocompleteForm" data-url="/autocomplete/lookup"
          data-context="CLIENT_MATTERS" data-show-no-matches="false" data-highlight-term="true" data-select-callback="applyClientMatterFromAutocompleteSelection">
        <div class="results autocompleteBox" id="client_matter_label_results" style="display: none;"></div>
      </div>
      <script>
        //<![CDATA[
        document.readyState != 'interactive' && document.readyState != 'complete' ? $(window).load(function() {
          $('#client_matter_label').bbAutocomplete();
        }) : $(document).ready(function() {
          $('#client_matter_label').bbAutocomplete();
        });
        //]]>
      </script>
      <iron-icon class="searchy x-scope iron-icon-0" icon="blaw-ct-small:search"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" focusable="false" class="style-scope iron-icon"
          style="pointer-events: none; display: block; width: 100%; height: 100%;">
          <g class="style-scope iron-icon">
            <path
              d="M14.5836288,15.2907356 L16.0339381,16.7410449 C15.9448455,17.0746617 16.0311639,17.4453774 16.2928932,17.7071068 L18.7928932,20.2071068 C19.1834175,20.5976311 19.8165825,20.5976311 20.2071068,20.2071068 C20.5976311,19.8165825 20.5976311,19.1834175 20.2071068,18.7928932 L17.7071068,16.2928932 C17.4453774,16.0311639 17.0746617,15.9448455 16.7410449,16.0339381 L16.7410449,16.0339381 L15.2907356,14.5836288 C16.3555923,13.3555678 17,11.7530386 17,10 C17,6.13400675 13.8659932,3 10,3 C6.13400675,3 3,6.13400675 3,10 C3,13.8659932 6.13400675,17 10,17 C11.7530386,17 13.3555678,16.3555923 14.5836288,15.2907356 L14.5836288,15.2907356 Z M10,15 C7.23857625,15 5,12.7614237 5,10 C5,7.23857625 7.23857625,5 10,5 C12.7614237,5 15,7.23857625 15,10 C15,12.7614237 12.7614237,15 10,15 Z"
              class="style-scope iron-icon"></path>
          </g>
        </svg> </iron-icon>
    </div>
    <div class="input clientMatterSuppressionCheckholder" id="clientMatterSuppressionCheckholder">
      <label>
        <input type="hidden" name="suppress_client_matter_prompt_enabled" id="suppress_client_matter_prompt_enabled" value="1">
        <input type="checkbox" name="suppress_client_matter_prompt" id="suppress_client_matter_prompt" value="1" checked="checked">
        <label for="suppress_client_matter_prompt">Do not remind me again this session</label>
      </label>
    </div>
    <div class="informativeParagraph"> Please contact your administrator if you have questions about client matter. </div>
  </div>
  <div class="buttons">
    <paper-button class="cancel x-scope paper-button-0" onclick="cancelClientMatterPopup();" type="button" role="button" tabindex="0" animated="" aria-disabled="false" elevation="0"> Cancel </paper-button>
    <paper-button class="disabled submitTheForm x-scope paper-button-0" onclick="BLAW.General.submitClientMatterForm();" type="button" role="button" tabindex="0" animated="" aria-disabled="false" elevation="0"> Submit </paper-button>
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

24_citation_map_24 32 32_LP_leadCase_lightbulb_32 close 24 24 24 24 24 T.O.C.
Request a Demo Log In
Daily Labor Report ®
A worker wearing a protective mask puts on gloves inside a California shopping
mall on May 13, 2020.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images



COVID-19 COMPLAINTS TO OSHA SURGE AS RULES ARE STAYED, WITHDRAWN

By Bruce Rolfsen

Jan. 21, 2022, 4:16 PM
 * Complaints, referrals up threefold since omicron emergence
 * Retail, grocery stores accounted for 133 of January’s cases

Bloomberg Law News 2022-01-26T08:19:16281-05:00


COVID-19 COMPLAINTS TO OSHA SURGE AS RULES ARE STAYED, WITHDRAWN

By Bruce Rolfsen 2022-01-21T11:16:50000-05:00
 *  Complaints, referrals up threefold since omicron emergence
 *  Retail, grocery stores accounted for 133 of January’s cases

The rise of the omicron Covid-19 variant has led to a threefold increase in
worker complaints and referrals to OSHA from other agencies.

Those increases come at the same time the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 halted
enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s shot-or-test
mandate for large employers and the agency’s Dec. 27 withdrawal of its
health-care Covid-19 emergency temporary standard. The surge of Covid-19
infections and the lack of virus-specific rules to prevent infections has led to
calls for OSHA to boost enforcement using other laws and standards and to
reinstate the health-care measure.

OSHA had taken in 702 complaints and referrals for the new year as of Jan. 17,
according to the most recent available agency enforcement data. In November,
before the omicron outbreak, OSHA averaged about 70 weekly complaints and
referrals. Starting in mid-December, the number increased each week, with OSHA
receiving 233 complaints and referrals in the final week of December.

Retail and grocery stores accounted for 133 of January’s caseload, and there
were 115 complaints about health-care facilities. Concerns about restaurants led
to 81 filings with OSHA.

The complaint numbers roughly parallel the national rise in Covid-19 cases.

The seven-day average number for daily new cases in the U.S. as of Jan. 19 was
744,615, up 797% from 82,975 cases at the end of November, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average peaked on Jan. 13 at
797,694.

The complaint and referral increase is also similar to what OSHA experienced in
summer 2021 when the delta variant was sweeping the country. During the first
week of August, OSHA received 109 complaints and referrals, more than a fivefold
increase over the 16 filed during the week ending June 20.

Complaints to OSHA peaked in summer 2020, when the agency was taking in an
average of about 310 complaints a week.




Complaints to OSHA
Bruce Rolfsen


UPTICK IN INSPECTIONS

Inspections have increased at a slower pace, in part due to the Christmas and
New Year’s Day holidays when inspections were less frequent.

OSHA averaged about 23 Covid-related inspections weekly in first three weeks of
December, according to agency numbers. But since the start of January, the
agency has opened 73 inspections, with 50 taking place from Jan. 10-17.

Worker advocates see growing Covid-19 numbers as evidence employers and OSHA
need to boost infection control efforts.

“Employers are not keeping workers safe and the complaint activity you cited
shows that workers are calling on the government, on OSHA, to help them,” said
Rebecca Reindel, director of safety and health for the AFL-CIO labor federation.
“They need their employers to provide mitigation measures, which are key to
preventing spread of the virus.”

OSHA declined an interview request to discuss the agency’s response to omicron
and how the variant had affected the agency’s ability to conduct in-person
inspections of work sites. Agency officials did provide a written response.

“OSHA has conducted inspections throughout the pandemic and will continue to use
on-site Covid-19 inspections, in most cases, and remote methods as needed to
reduce potential exposure to compliance safety officers and workers,” the
agency’s statement said. “Our goal is to investigate every complaint we receive,
and this enforcement approach ensures that we are using every available tool to
address unsafe workplaces.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Bruce Rolfsen in Washington at
BRolfsen@bloomberglaw.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Martha Mueller Neff at
mmuellerneff@bloomberglaw.com, Melissa B. Robinson at mrobinson@bloomberglaw.com

Bruce Rolfsen
Reporter


DOCUMENTS

OSHA vaccination, testing standard
OSHA withdrawn health-care standard
CDC data tracker

RELATED ARTICLES

Supreme Court Blocks Biden’s Shot-or-Test Rule for Workers (2)
Jan. 13, 2022, 9:13 PM
GE Halts, Honeywell Keeps Vaccine Policy After High Court Ruling
Jan. 14, 2022, 10:20 PM
Omicron Surge Gives Bosses Reason to Order Shots Biden Can’t (1)
Jan. 14, 2022, 2:18 PM
First Health-Care Worker Virus Rule Officially Ended by OSHA (2)
Dec. 28, 2021, 4:01 PM


TOPICS

 * coronavirus
 * workplace infectious disease exposure
 * safety inspection procedure




MORE FROM BLOOMBERG LAW


MOST READ STORIES IN DAILY LABOR REPORT ®


BIDEN’S SHOT-OR-TEST RULE ABANDONED AFTER SUPREME COURT LOSS (2)

The Biden administration is withdrawing its Covid-19 shot-or-test rule for
workers at large employers in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that
blocked the measure from taking effect.


REPUBLICAN SWING VOTE HELPS EEOC AVOID GREATER PARTISAN GRIDLOCK

Significant EEOC policy changes that would align with Biden administration
priorities are in a holding pattern while Republicans maintain a majority on the
agency’s leadership panel. But day-to-day decisions over which lawsuits to
pursue have largely avoided partisan gridlock because of GOP Commissioner Andrea
Lucas.


HEALTH-CARE STRIKE RISK RUNS HIGH AS HUNDREDS OF LABOR DEALS END

Hundreds of union contracts will expire in 2022 at health-care facilities from
Boston to Sacramento, setting up fights over staff-to-patient ratios, pay, and
other safety concerns as beleaguered workers continue to battle the Covid-19
pandemic.


LATEST STORIES IN DAILY LABOR REPORT ®


BESIEGED NURSING HOMES CALL STAFFING REPORT MANDATE ‘TONE DEAF’

Nursing homes, struggling with record staff shortages and rising Covid-19
infections, will soon have to publicly report their employee turnover rates and
weekend staffing levels for nurses, a move designed to help consumers select
quality facilities.


NEW YORK TO REQUIRE EMPLOYERS TO DISCLOSE EMPLOYEE MONITORING

Employers in New York must disclose electronic monitoring, such as internet
access and videoconferencing, to new hires under a new law taking effect in May,
as workers contend with an employment landscape that’s increasingly dependent on
technology.


BIDEN’S WORKPLACE VACCINE RULES HIT REPUBLICAN JUDGE BLOCKADE

President Joe Biden’s multi-pronged campaign to boost Covid-19 vaccination rates
among workers has run into a red wall of Republican-appointed judges,
particularly those jurists tapped by the Trump administration.

© 2022 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Top




 * Contact Us
 * View Full Desktop Site
 * BLAW ® 24 / 7 Help Desk (888) 560-2529

Terms of service , Privacy , Copyright , Accessibility

© 2022 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
All Rights Reserved




ENTER A CLIENT MATTER


Your firm optionally allows a client matter to be selected while you are using
Bloomberg Law. Please contact your administrator if you have any questions.
Please select from a recently used Client Matter or enter a Client Matter
manually.

RECENTLY USED

CLIENT MATTER

Do not remind me again this session
Please contact your administrator if you have questions about client matter.
Cancel Submit
Unrecognized Client Matter

Client Matter   does not currently exist in Bloomberg Law. Would you like to add
this client matter to the system?
Yes No

Bloomberg Industry Group
About Us Contact Us
Other Products
Big Law Business Professional Learning BNA
Help Topics
Getting Started BCite Citator Smart Code Points of Law Browse All Help Topics
24/7 BLAW® Help Desk
888.560.2529
help@bloomberglaw.com
0.1329.0
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright Accessibility
© 2022 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.