Occupational Health Watch: September 2020

​Protecting Workers from COVID-19 on the Job

The Occupational Health Branch is working with colleagues in CDPH and our partners in the occupational health community to provide information and guidance for health and safety professionals, employers,  unions, and workers about the evolving coronavirus pandemic.

Our new webpage, Protecting Workers from COVID-19 on the Job, highlights up-to-date information on work-related COVID-19 prevention from the State of California, CDPH, and Cal/OSHA. It also includes links to the websites of workplace health and safety agencies and organizations. The page features resources on respiratory protection, cleaning and disinfection, and face coverings. Viewers will also find links to websites with industry-specific guidance that will be helpful as businesses around the state begin to reopen.

Updated CDPH guidance (PDF) now requires employers to notify local health departments when there are three or more cases of COVID-19 at their worksite within a two-week period. This change aims to improve our statewide awareness of which workers, workplaces, and industries are most impacted. Governor Newsom just signed Assembly Bill 685, a new law that includes this reporting mandate and will require CDPH to post data on outbreaks by industry on our website.  

Unions, employers, and advocacy groups: please help get the word out about best practices for preventing COVID-19 at work by sharing this month’s Occupational Health Watch.