OSHA weighs in on "Second Wave" Covid Panic for U.S. oil & gas workers.

< eye roll >

Covid deaths in the U.S. are PLUMMETING in the last week.

Why is OSHA issuing guidelines now ?

Gotta push that "Second Wave" fearmongering Chicken Little agenda, apparently.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ISSUES GUIDANCE TO EMPLOYERS TO HELP PROTECT OIL AND GAS WORKERS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released coronavirus-related guidance to reduce the risk of exposure to the coronavirus for oil and gas workers.

Employers with workers engaged in the oil and gas industry should remain alert to changing conditions, and implement infection prevention measures accordingly. The guidance includes information regarding:

• Deferring work requiring close contact with others, if that work can be postponed;

• Configuring communal work environments so that workers are spaced at least 6 feet apart;

• Staggering workers’ arrival, break and departure times;

• Ensuring adequate ventilation in work areas to help minimize potential exposures;

• Implementing other appropriate engineering, administrative and work practice controls, and use of appropriate personal protective equipment; and

• Encourage workers to wear face coverings as a source control to prevent the potential spread of the virus.

Visit OSHA’s coronavirus webpage frequently for updates. For further information about the coronavirus, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

Agency Occupational Safety & Health Administration

Date July 7, 2020

Release Number 20-1314-NAT

Contact: Megan Sweeney

Phone Number 202-693-4661

Email sweeney.megan.p@dol.gov

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20200707-2

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More details on the OSHA fear porn for Covid 2nd wave panic agenda. Small sample below, an insane amout of fearporn details in the OSHA link:

COVID-19 - Control and Prevention / Oil and Gas Industry Workers and Employers

Cloth Face Coverings in Oil and Gas

CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings as a protective measure in addition to staying at least six feet away from others. Cloth face coverings may be especially important when social distancing is not possible or feasible based on working conditions. A cloth face covering may reduce the amount of large respiratory droplets that a person spreads when talking, sneezing, or coughing. Cloth face coverings may prevent people who do not know they have the virus that causes COVID-19 from spreading it to others. Cloth face coverings are intended to protect other people—not the wearer.

Cloth face coverings are not PPE. Cloth face coverings should not be used as a substitute for a respirator or surgical mask in workplaces where such equipment is needed to protect the wearer.

While wearing cloth face coverings is a public health measure intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in communities, it may not be practical for workers to wear a single cloth face covering for the full duration of a work shift (e.g., eight or more hours) in oil and gas operations if they become wet, soiled, or otherwise visibly contaminated during the work shift. If cloth face coverings are worn in these worksites, employers should provide readily available clean cloth face coverings (or disposable facemask options) for workers to use when the coverings become wet, soiled, or otherwise visibly contaminated.

Employers who determine that cloth face coverings should be worn in the workplace, including to comply with state or local orders, should ensure the cloth face coverings:

• Fit over the nose and mouth and fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face;

• Are secured with ties or ear loops;

• Include multiple layers of fabric;

• Allow for breathing without restriction;

• Can be laundered using the warmest appropriate water setting and machine dried daily after the shift, without damage or change to shape (a clean cloth face covering should be used each day);

• Are not used if they become wet or contaminated;

• Are replaced with clean replacements, provided by employer, as needed.

• Are handled as little as possible to prevent transferring infectious materials to the cloth; and

• Are not worn with or instead of respiratory protection when respirators are needed.

Safe Work Practices

Workers should avoid touching their faces, including their eyes, noses, and mouths, until they have thoroughly washed their hands upon completing work and removing PPE. Workers should be careful not to touch their eyes, nose, and mouth when removing a cloth face covering or other facial PPE.

Personal Protective Equipment

Most oil and gas workers in normal work environments are unlikely to need PPE beyond what they use to protect themselves during routine job tasks. Conduct a hazard assessment (sometimes called a job hazard analysis) to determine the proper PPE for industrial hazards. Reminder – face masks and cloth face coverings are not substitutes for respiratory protection from industrial hazards

Employers should consider whether their hazard and risk assessments warrant the use of items such as gloves or eye and face protection, if not already in use. For example, workers may need eye and face protection (e.g., goggles, face shields) when work requires being within six feet of other workers and when other engineering and administrative controls cannot prevent worker exposure to potentially infectious respiratory droplets.

Consider possible additional hazards (e.g., PPE catching in machinery, limiting worker dexterity or vision) that can be created by new PPE in the work environment.

The sharing of PPE, such as gloves, aprons, and face shields, including equipment used for hazards other than SARS-CoV-2 (e.g., for mixing mud-drilling fluids that contain hazardous chemicals), should be avoided, if possible. If the PPE must be shared, it needs to be cleaned and disinfected according to manufacturer recommendations before being used by another person. Follow proper donning and doffing procedures for PPE.

Note that workers who perform tasks involving hazardous chemicals may also require PPE and/or other controls to protect them from chemical hazards. Employers may need to adapt guidance from this section, and the Interim Guidance for Workers and Employers of Workers at Increased Risk of Occupational Exposure, in order to fully protect workers performing activities in oil and gas drilling, servicing, production, and/or processing workplaces that involve work with hazardous chemicals.

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/oil-gas.html