California needs workplace protections now — for the next pandemic

by Stephen Knight

In Spring 2020, illness and death swept across our state and the world in the wake of a new pathogen: COVID-19. At Worksafe, we huddled in crisis mode with nurses, janitors and other workers and workers rights groups to demand emergency workplace rules to protect Californians from COVID on the job; Cal/OSHA enacted statewide rules in late 2020, almost a year after the pandemic first landed.

Today, all the ingredients are back in place for California having to scramble again to address a public health threat that is out in plain view. Bird flu is being described as a pandemic unfolding in slow motion. Now, we are learning that at least one person has died from HN51; in California Governor Newsom has declared a state of emergency to address the crisis on the state’s dairy farms. But there is far more that can and should be done. It is high time we develop a general contingency plan for new pandemics, and workplace protections must be high on the list. Whatever the nature of the next disease threat, California must be prepared.

Employers in health care have had specific regulations for ATD for years. There is no reason at this point to be caught by surprise. But the few remaining elements of the COVID-specific protections are now expiring. When is California going to take steps to protect all the rest of us workers from the next aerosol transmissible disease (ATD)?

Worksafe’s 2020 petition for an emergency COVID standard proposed that the OSH Standards Board also move to create a general ATD standard to be in place once the COVID-specific emergency expired. But we are not hearing anything to suggest that this plan is on track. There are protections in place for dairy workers which need to be enforced. But by Spring 2025, employers will have no guidance or requirements on how to respond to the next pandemic. Cal/OSHA must move quickly to advance a permanent ATD standard for the next pandemic, and the one after that.

Preparation and protection now can reduce the future impact on workers, employers, and the economy as a whole. A study from JAMA Health Forum documents that “stringent COVID-19 restrictions were associated with substantial decreases in excess deaths during the pandemic,” while reporting that some restrictions, such as school closings, “likely provided minimal benefit while imposing substantial cost.” JAMA’s summary of the economic benefits are eye-popping:

using value of statistical life estimates ranging from $4.7 million to $11.6 million, the estimated lives saved from states with strong (vs weak) restrictions over the 2-year period were worth $1.3 trillion to $5.2 trillion — 6% to 22% of 2021 gross domestic product.

And a PPIC report in January 2023 looking at COVID-19’s impact on life expectancy found that California “fared better than most states. Public health efforts, along with state and local policies, have led to a lower death rate from COVID than in the rest of the country and other large states — including Texas, Florida, and New York.”

The bar set by our shared experience with COVID need not define how we respond in the future. With preparation we can be smarter and more effective in our measures to prevent unnecessary deaths during future outbreaks. We learned in 2020 that workplace safety for essential workers in particular is a vital element to keeping our economy running — and to protect the most vulnerable populations that too often bear the brunt of our collective failure to look ahead.

Public health professionals must push through the noise and advance science-based policies that save workers’ lives and protect our families and communities. Proper masking and ventilation are strong candidates for measures to include as part of a standard; the Standards Board has already recognized that compensation for workers who are required to exclude themselves from the workplace in order to protect others is another crucial and just element.

Cal/OSHA is entrusted with protecting the well-being of all workers. This trust demands prioritizing an ATD standard for all workers before — not after — the next pandemic begins to ravage our communities. We call upon the Governor to ensure this process is expedited consistent with the evidence of what keeps workers safe.