OSHA Allows Healthcare ETS to Expire; OSHA Vaccination ETS Remains in Effect Pending Supreme Court Decision

On December 27, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it was officially withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portions of the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (Healthcare ETS), which was originally implemented on June 21, 2021. OSHA stated that is plans to “continue to work expeditiously to issue a final standard that will protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 hazards.”

Facilities that were previously covered under the Healthcare ETS are still subject to the OSHA Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (Vaccine ETS) if they have 100 or more employees. However, challenges to the OSHA Vaccine ETS are continuing to wind their way through federal courts. In December 2021, a nationwide stay of the OSHA Vaccination ETS was lifted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following the Sixth Circuit decision, the states challenging the Vaccine ETS moved for an emergency stay in the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments on January 7. The Vaccination ETS remains in effect pending a decision from the Supreme Court.