ICYMI: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients: New OSHA rule empowers businesses to protect their workers and end this pandemic

U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients penned an op-ed for USA Today highlighting how the new rule issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will protect workers from the grave danger posed by COVID-19.

"COVID-19 continues to hold back our workforce and our economy, and it will continue to do so until more Americans are vaccinated," they write. "American workers deserve and expect a safe and healthy workplace. This rule covers more than 80 million workers and will have a huge impact, saving thousands of lives and preventing 250,000 workers from hospitalization over the next six months alone."

Secretary Walsh and Zients note that a strong majority of Americans support employer vaccination policies, and that compliance for these policies is consistently high and could lead to up to 5 million Americans reentering the workforce.

"Thousands of employers have already stepped up, and a large body of data overwhelmingly demonstrates that organizations that have implemented COVID-19 vaccination policies to protect their workers have increased vaccination rates by more than 20 percentage points to well above 90 percent. And thanks in part to vaccination requirements, we have reduced the number of unvaccinated Americans by about 40 percent since July."

Read the full op-ed below:

USA Today Op-Ed: Employer COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate will protect workers and boost U.S. economy
[By Marty Walsh, Jeff Zients, 11/4/21]

Our nation is at an inflection point in our fight against COVID-19. 70 percent of adults in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, and COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are down over 50 percent since early September. This is real progress, but the virus remains a threat to unvaccinated individuals, particularly America's workers.

Although COVID-19 is not exclusively an occupational disease, transmission can and often does occur in workplaces—affecting employees and their health, families, and livelihoods. In fact, 4 million American workers missed work in early September because they or someone they loved had COVID-19. In other words, COVID-19 continues to hold back our workforce and our economy, and it will continue to do so until more Americans are vaccinated.

American workers deserve and expect a safe and healthy workplace. That's why today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a rule that will protect workers from the grave danger posed by COVID-19. The new OSHA rule requires businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure each of their employees is fully vaccinated or undergoes weekly COVID-19 testing. Employers have until January 4th for each employee to get their shots or begin testing at least once per week. The new rule also requires employers to provide paid time for workers to get vaccinated, eliminating one of the major barriers that keeps workers from starting or completing their vaccinations.

This rule covers more than 80 million workers and will have a huge impact, saving thousands of lives and preventing 250,000 workers from hospitalization over the next six months alone.

Overall, more than two-thirds of all workers in the U.S are now covered by this rule and other requirements the Biden Administration has put in place to protect workers. Together, these policies will lead to millions of Americans getting vaccinated and protect workers from COVID-19.

OSHA has a strong 50-year record of requiring employers to take common sense actions to prevent workers from getting sick or injured on the job. Hard hats on construction sites. Goggles in labs. Harnesses on scaffolding. And now, getting vaccinated against a virus that has taken more American lives than World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11—combined.

A strong majority of Americans support a requirement for employers to ensure their workers are vaccinated and unvaccinated workers are tested at least once a week. And importantly, the new OSHA rule establishes a floor for safety—not a ceiling. Many businesses have already agreed to institute a full vaccination requirement without a testing option.

To save lives and protect our workers, we need to get more Americans vaccinated. Unvaccinated people are more than 10 times as likely as fully vaccinated people to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19, and more vaccinations will accelerate the end of the pandemic. That's why President Biden has led by requiring vaccinations for federal employees and contractors, while calling on employers to do the same.

Thousands of employers have already stepped up, and a large body of data overwhelmingly demonstrates that organizations that have implemented COVID-19 vaccination policies to protect their workers have increased vaccination rates by more than 20 percentage points to well above 90 percent. And thanks in part to vaccination requirements, we have reduced the number of unvaccinated Americans by about 40 percent since July.

Compliance at these organizations has been consistently high, with only a very small share of workers out of compliance—often fewer than 1 percent. And because people want to work where they feel safe, vaccination policies could lead to up to 5 million Americans reentering the workforce, according to Goldman Sachs. That's good for workers and business alike.

Together, we have decades of experience leading organizations in both the public and private sectors. We understand the pressures on labor and management, especially during the pandemic. We know managing change can be hard. But there's no question: COVID-19 presents a grave threat to worker safety, and this emergency rule is the best way to prevent death and serious illness from work-related transmissions.

American employers have an opportunity to save lives, strengthen our economy, and accelerate the end of this pandemic. It's time for all employers to step up and do their part.