Under new roles proposed by a beleaguered state board Friday, vaccinated workers in California will be able to cast aside their face coverings, but unvaccinated workers will have to continue to wear masks.
If passed, the Cal/OSHA workplace rules would align with the state’s reopening plans for Tuesday. But under the agency’s rules, the new proposal could not take effect until June 28. Until then, all workers must wear masks indoors unless alone in a room.
However, Gov. Gavin Newsom hinted earlier Friday that he would take action to close the “gap” and allow fully vaccinated workers to go mask free starting Tuesday. The governor’s office on Friday declined to specify what action he might take or when.
The Cal/OSHA board, under pressure this week from Newsom and business groups to align its mask rules with the state’s, had signaled that it would pass the new rules at its next meeting, on Thursday.
The proposal they will consider requires employers to verify workers’ vaccination status and provide clean, undamaged masks — which do not have to be N-95 respirators — to all employees not fully vaccinated “and ensure they are worn when indoors or in vehicles.”
A spokesperson for Newsom said late Friday his office was pleased with the new proposal but declined to say what he would do next.
“The Governor cannot speculate as to the board’s upcoming vote but we will continue to work with workers, employers and regulators to transition to a full and safe reopening come June 15,” the spokesperson said in an email.
The California Department of Industrial Relations, which includes Cal/OSHA, said in an email Friday about the new proposal that “Employers must verify and document the vaccination status of fully vaccinated employees if they do not wear face coverings indoors.”
Employers have already pushed back strongly on such a requirement. Bruce Wick, director of risk management for the Housing Contractors of California, told Cal/OSHA’s board at its meeting this week that workers would become resentful toward employers over perceived intrusions. However, Mitch Steiger, a legislative advocate for the California Labor Federation, told the board that with workplace outbreaks continuing, workers’ vaccination status must be verified.
The workplace-safety board had flip-flopped on mask rules, last week issuing, then this week withdrawing, rules that would have required all workers to be masked if anyone in the same room was unvaccinated.
The rule-making comes amid polarized national debates over COVID-19 protections, with many opposed to government interventions while many others worry that early relaxation of COVID-19 rules will lengthen the pandemic and cause more sickness and death. Cal/OSHA board chair David Thomas this week became emotional when describing the abuse he and his colleagues were receiving during open video meetings as they sought to juggle competing interests while protecting workers and the public.
State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly this week announced that fully vaccinated Californians will not need to wear masks in public, according to separate state public health guidance, except on public transportation, indoors at schools and similar youth situations, and at health-care settings — including care facilities, homeless shelters and cooling facilities. Cal/OSHA, however, governs workplaces.
Ghaly has said businesses can use the honor system for patrons. The state public health department says businesses have three options on masks for customers: allow people to self-attest to their vaccination status, verify vaccine status to determine whether individuals are required to wear a mask, or require all patrons to wear masks.
Outdoors at what the state calls “mega events” such as concerts, verification of fully vaccinated status or showing a negative test result is “strongly recommended” but not required for attendees. “Attendees who do not verify vaccination status should be asked to wear face coverings,” the state public health department says.
