Cal/OSHA’s inability to set clear workplace rules for California’s reopening Tuesday is inexcusable.
It’s been two months since Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state aimed to fully reopen June 15, giving the workplace safety regulator ample time to give businesses the guidance they need to avoid confusion among employers and employees.
Businesses hate uncertainty. Cal/OSHA’s failure placed yet another hurdle in employers’ efforts to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
As Dan McCranie, owner of Morgan Hill’s Ladera Grill, told the Bay Area News Group, “They’re just in kind of dithering chaos right now.”
At the end of a nine-hour marathon meeting Wednesday, Cal/OSHA’s workplace standards board threw out new rules that would have required vaccinated workers to wear masks in any room where someone was not vaccinated.
The board proposed on Friday that vaccinated workers in California would be able to cast aside their face coverings, but unvaccinated workers would have to continue to wear masks. But under the agency’s rules, the new proposal could not take effect until June 28. So businesses were forced to continue using the emergency protocols that were set last November, which requires all workers to wear masks indoors unless alone in a room.
When Cal/OSHA does issue its new rules, it should err on the side of caution. While California’s infection rate is one of the lowest in the nation, dropping to its lowest levels since March 2020, COVID-19 and its variants still pose a significant risk to the state.
The state can take pride in having one of the nation’s highest vaccination rates, but only 56% of residents have received at least one dose of vaccine. That leaves 44% of the population unvaccinated. No one knows how many of California’s unvaccinated population may be protected from having been infected by the coronavirus, but it’s a safe assumption it isn’t sufficient to reach herd immunity. Health experts’ numbers vary, but they generally put that number at roughly 70-85% of the population.
State officials know that the highest rates of the unvaccinated population are in rural and low-income, urban areas. Together, they make up a sizable portion of California’s workplace, creating the potential for a surge in communities that are already suffering from the impact of the pandemic.
Cal/OSHA also has yet to establish how any new rules will be enforced. The situation has businesses scrambling to make sure they have safe environments for employees and customers for Tuesday’s scheduled reopening.
The Cal/OSHA board ‘s failure to establish clear, enforceable standards adds another sad, confusing chapter to the state’s efforts to fight the pandemic.