COVID 19 Update 34
COVID 19 NOT Recordable Incident for Recordkeeping
The Department of Labor announced Friday that businesses will not have to consider confirmed cases of COVID-19 as recordable incidents for Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordkeeping purposes unless there is objective evidence available to them that the cases are work related. OSHA noted that determining whether a worker contracted COVID-19 while performing work duties is difficult given ongoing community spread.
This announcement provides regulatory certainty to the manufacturing community and helps protect companies from unfounded liability claims while allowing businesses to focus on hygiene and safety procedures at their facilities. The NAM worked to provide OSHA with information on why this new guidance was needed for manufacturers that continue to produce essential goods and services.
You can find the OSHA enforcement memo here
Governors Unite to Announce Multi-State Council to Get People Back to Work and Restore the Economy
Council Will Include One Health Expert, One Economic Development Expert and Respective Chiefs of Staff from Each State. It will develop a fully integrated regional framework to gradually lift the states’ stay at home orders while minimizing the risk of increased spread of the virus.
Recognizing that their states have one integrated regional economy, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Delaware Governor John Carney and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo today announced the creation of a multi-state council to restore the economy and get people back to work. This announcement builds on the states’ ongoing regional approach to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mid-Hudson Counties to Jointly Promote Economic Development When COVID-19 Ends
When it appears that COVID-19 is defeated, three area counties plan to band together to revive the economy.
Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus said it will be a regional effort.
“There has been a lot of coordination between, Dutchess, Orange County, and Ulster County, so we are going to try to roll out a uniform message as we start seeing businesses return to being open in the future. So, that is being planned,” he said.
Survey: How Are Factory Floors Responding to Coronavirus?
Forbes Reports that some manufacturers are performing health screenings at the start of shifts and increasing distance between workstations, among other actions, writes Oden Technologies CEO Willem Sundblad. An Oden survey found expanding remote work and limiting on-site congregating are the most common actions, while 38% are using alcohol wipes to sterilize equipment and 12% require workers to wear gloves.
NAM Working with Policymakers on Liability Protections
Manufacturers of all kinds continue to operate as specially designated critical infrastructure, yet by doing your best to serve the public interest and operate during these uncertain times, you risk becoming targets in a wave of COVID-19-related lawsuits based on product liability, alleged workplace transmission and even Good Samaritan actions. NAM’s Manufacturers’ Center for Legal Action has been working with members of the NAM’s Legal Advisory Council to better understand the growing threat and will soon release a Liability Action Plan to influence the debate on Capitol Hill and in the administration about the fairest and most responsible way to address this liability issue and block the trial bar from taking the keys to our economy.
The Economist: Less Globalisation, More Tech – The Changes COVID-19 is Forcing On To Business
The big ones are oddly familiar
“Yet even as they walk through the valley of the shadow of death, chief executives and corporate strategists are beginning to look to the post-covid world to come. What they think they see, for good or ill, is an acceleration. Three existing trends—the deglobalisation unpicking the business world that grew up in the 2000s; the infusion of data-enabled services into ever more aspects of life; a consolidation of economic power into the hands of giant corporations—look likely to proceed at a faster rate than before, and perhaps to go further, too. Optimists—and business folk tend to look on the bright side—see this acceleration as offering new possibilities for reinvention, even resurrection. Pessimists see inefficiencies and insularity weighing on profitability for many years to come.”
Webinar: BD Outreach – CARES Act Updates with alliantgroup’s Washington Insiders
TODAY – Tuesday, April 14th, 2020 | 12:00pm – 12:30pm CST
Hosts: Dean Zerbe, Rick Lazio, Steve Miller and Kathy Petronchak
The implementation of Congress’s historic $2 trillion stimulus package is in full swing as individuals and businesses across the country are looking for relief amidst the coronavirus pandemic. alliantgroup’s Dean Zerbe, Rick Lazio, Steve Miller and Kathy Petronchak will give an overview of the opportunities available for U.S. businesses and present the latest guidance from Treasury on how the provisions of the bill will work, including who is qualified to take advantage of the relief offered. Click the image below to register for the presentation.