SDDSNY Bulletin July/August 2021

SDDS Important News Updates NYSDOL Issues Model Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has issued its model Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act plans for all employers for protecting workers from airborne infectious diseases. Visit https://bit.ly/nysdol-hero- prevention-plan to find the model plan for personal services employ- ers such as dentists. NYSDOL has also issued the NYSDOL regulatory standard to be followed for protecting workers from airborne infec- tious diseases. Visit https://bit. ly/nysdol-exposure-prevention to find the NYSDOL regulatory standard. Employers are free to adopt the plan provided by NYSDOL or establish an alternative plan that meets or exceeds the NYSDOL standard’s minimum require- ments. The plan only kicks in when the New York State Commissioner of Health has designated an airborne infectious disease as a highly contagious communicable disease that pres- ents a serious risk of harm to the public health. Currently, while employers must adopt plans as required by the law, by press time no designation has been made by the Commissioner of Health and plans are not required to be in effect. Employers are required to provide employees a copy of the adopted airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plan and post the same in a visible and The plan only kicks in when the New York State Commissioner of Health has designated an airborne infectious disease prominent location within each worksite. Go to https://dol.ny.gov/ ny-hero-act to read more infor- mation on the New York HERO Act. Important dates to remem- ber are: August 6, 2021: Within 30 days of the NYSDOL’s publica- tion, employers must either adopt the model protocol applicable to their industry or create their own airborne disease prevention plan that meets or exceeds the mini- mum requirements of the law. September 5, 2021: Within 60 days of the NYSDOL’s publica- tion, employers must provide the adopted or equally stringent safety protocols to their employees. Continued on Page 15 » WWW.SDDSNY.ORG 3