My big company hasn't pulled the mask. Our big federal customer has. So we are more hesitant than the unionized gummint workers.
What's the hold up? "Oh the CDC says it's fine, but we haven't heard from OSHA..." Nice goalpost moving. This is the first time they told us they take their cues from OSHA. For our Brit readers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA says they are working on guidance. Might take awhile, "In the meantime, follow CDC guidance..."
I work in an office. Where they confiscate any cake knives. There IS no weapons to counter an active shooter for the Fight part of the Run-Hide-Fight training.
I used to work at a brewery, with slip and fall hazards, drop hazards, lift hazards, burn hazards, heat exhaustion hazards, forklifts, strong caustic chemicals, steam lines... OSHA never shows up for stuff like that until you start getting hurt a lot and filing claims. So OSHA was a joke.
I doubt anyone has put a claim in at the office for workman's comp for Covid. So OSHA isn't even on the radar.
In the states that I have looked up their mandates, they specifically say that masks are NOT PPE and do NOT fall under OSHA purview.
ReplyDeleteNote that if OSHA required masks, they would fall under the respirator rules - which require employees to provide breathing protection appropriate to the hazard, plus training, fit testing, medical qualifications, etc.
There is NO WAY that OSHA (or MSHA for that matter, though they are trying) to legally mandate these useless scraps of fabric...