Virginia — the site of offices for nearly 150,000 federal employees and an even greater number of many government contractors — has issued its own workforce safety standards in response to COVID-19, as critics continued to rail against the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s perceived lack of urgency regarding the pandemic.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced on July 15 that statewide emergency workforce safety standards would mandate the wearing of personal protective equipment, as well as adoption of sanitation measures, social distancing, and infectious disease preparedness and response plans in workplaces across the state — along with accompanying record keeping, trainings, and communications about the coronavirus.
