OSHA’s NEP

What Does it Mean for You?

To augment The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) efforts on un-programmed, COVID-19-related activities (complaints, referrals, and severe incidents) in high-hazard industries, OSHA introduced the National Emphasis Program (NEP) on March 12, 2021.

So, what exactly does that mean for you? The NEP intends to help create safeguards for workers at the most risk by creating protections from retaliation through:

• Distribution of anti-retaliation information during inspections
• Outreach opportunities
• Prompt referral of retaliation to the Whistleblowers Protection Program
• Preventing retaliation where possible

Although just released, the NEP takes effect immediately and employers should begin planning for their possible COVID-19 related site inspections now. Prior to the NEP’s introduction, OSHA would conduct inspections at worksites with high frequency “close contact” exposures as defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Although, the un-programmed inspections will continue, the NEP adds programmed inspections for certain industries which are broken down into Primary and Secondary Target Industries.

Primary Target Industries
Targeted Healthcare

• Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly
• General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
• Home Health Care Services
• Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists)
• Ambulance Services

Targeted Non-Healthcare

• Meat Processed from Carcasses
• Supermarket and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores
• General Warehousing and Storage
• Full-Service Restaurants
• Correctional Institution

Secondary Target Industries

Supplemental Industries for non-Healthcare in Essential Critical Infrastructure

• Other Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
• Chemical Manufacturing
• Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
• Urban Transit
• Industrial Design Services

For a complete list of all the Targeted industries see OSHA’s full NEP HERE!

And if your headed back to the office and need COVID-19 training, don’t hesitate to check out our Returning to Work during the Pandemic for: EMPLOYEES and for Managers and SUPERVISORS as well as our Guarding Against COVID-19 course.

So, whether you need one class, or a multi-business training package, Transportation Compliance Associates offers classes covering all your COVID-19 training needs. Let us take the guess work out of compliance training and help you achieve all your safety and compliance goals. For a FREE consultation call us at (724) 899-4100 or check us out at learnhazmat.com and one of our team members will help you decide what industry leading training and compliance program best suits your needs.

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