On June 3rd, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board readopted Cal/OSHA’s revised COVID-19 prevention emergency temporary standards.

The changes adopted by the Board on June 3rd phased out physical distancing and make other adjustments to better align with the state’s June 15 goal to retire the Blueprint. Without these changes, the original standards, would be in place until at least October 2.

In a late night meeting on June 9, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to withdraw the revisions to Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 prevention emergency temporary standards that they had voted to approve on June 3, and that were sent to the Office of Administrative Law for review.

The vote was held during a special meeting on June 9 to consider the latest guidance regarding masking from the Centers for Disease Control and California Department of Public Health.

The meeting, attended by members of the public including workers, industry leaders, employers and other stakeholders shared their views on the matter in more than two and a half hours of public comment.

Those revised emergency standards were expected to go into effect no later than June 15 pending approval by the OAL within 10 calendar days after the Standards Board rulemaking package submission.

The Standards Board voted unanimously to withdraw the revisions approved on June 3 that are currently at OAL for review but have not yet become effective.

Cal/OSHA will review the new mask guidance and bring any recommended revisions to the board.

The Board could consider new revisions at a future meeting, perhaps as early as the regular meeting on June 17. In the meantime, the protections adopted in November of 2020 will remain in effect.