The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) this week issued updated COVID-19 workplace rules that all employers must follow. The rules supersede the Emergency Rules (“Rules”) filed on Oct. 14, 2020, and extended by the Governor in April through October 2021.

These rules have been scaled back for those who are vaccinated and are designed to be more aligned with the new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Epidemic Orders (current and new as of June 1). The new Rules require employers to:

  • Ensure that any employees, except fully vaccinated persons, remain at least six feet from one another to the maximum extent feasible while on worksite premises.
  • Provide non-medical grade face coverings to their employees at no cost to the employee. Employers are not required to provide non-medical grade face coverings to fully vaccinated persons since they no longer need to wear them. All non-vaccinated persons must continue to wear a face mask if they are 6 feet or less from another person regardless of the other persons vaccination status. There should be posters stating that non-vaccinated persons wear a mask and continue to social distance.
  • You must have a written preparedness and response plan. There are no major changes to your current plan. A minor change may be required if you are changing your remote work policies and vaccinated persons not needing to wear a mask or social distance.
  • Conduct a daily entry self-screening protocol for all employees or contractors entering the workplace, including, at a minimum, a questionnaire covering symptoms and suspected or confirmed exposure to people with possible COVID-19. You may also ask their vaccination status on the questionnaire. The recommendation for taking daily temperature checks has been removed. If taking employee temperatures is working for you, please feel free to continue to do so. Health screening records must be kept for a minimum of 6 months.
  • Designate one or more worksite safety coordinators to implement, monitor and report on the COVID-19 control strategies developed under the rules. These persons no longer need to be on-site during the working hours.
  • Physically isolate any employees known or suspected to have COVID-19 from the remainder of the workforce, using measures such as, but not limited to:
    • Not allowing known or suspected cases to report to work.
    • Sending known or suspected cases away from the workplace.
    • Assigning known or suspected cases to work alone at a remote location (for example, their home), as their health allows.
  • Direct employees to promptly report any signs and symptoms of COVID-19 to the employer before or during the work shift.
  • Notify anyone (e.g., co-workers, contractors, suppliers) who may have come into close contact with a person (e.g., employee, visitor, customer) with a known case of COVID-19.
  • Only allow employees with a known or suspected case of COVID-19 to return to the workplace only after they are no longer infectious according to the latest guidelines from the CDC. The MDHHS orders may supersede the CDC’s if an Emergency Order is given, such as expanding the quarantine days from 10 to 14.

These Emergency Orders are in effect until October 31, 2021 and as things develop may change again prior to that end date. Please do not confuse the MIOSHA order with the MDHHS’s July 1st of ending face mask use. This does not apply to the relationship between employee and employer. Only MIOSHA can end the workplace mask mandate for your non-vaccinated employees. If in the meantime, you have further questions, please reach out to your loss control consultant so that we can better answer your questions or specific concerns.

Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM — (248) 804-8434
Chris Demeter — (517) 230-0937
Travis Halsted, ARM, COSS — (248) 444-5398