The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Alaska
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Alaska Statutes, Title 18, ch. 60, art. 1, Occupational Safety and Health, AS 18.60.010-18.60.105
- Issued
- 2026-09-28 Sept. 28, 2026
- Effective
- standing (read as 2026-09-28)
- End
- standing
- In force
- Standing since Sept. 28, 2026 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Workplace rulesStanding duty
- Addressees
- employers (every employer in Alaska within the State plan, private and public); employees (AS 18.60.075(b))
- Character
- workplace duty
- Collection
- Standing duties: Alaska DUT-AK
Operative words
(a) An employer shall do everything necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of employees, including... (4) furnishing to each employee employment and a place of employment that are free from recognized hazards that, in the opinion of the commissioner, are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to the employees.
Penalty
AS 18.60.095: civil penalties per violation up to the maxima set by regulation, capped at the federal amounts under 29 U.S.C. 666 ((a)-(d), (g), (i)); a serious violation 'shall be assessed' a civil penalty ((b)); willful or repeated violation causing death: fine to $10,000 or six months, or both, on first conviction ((e)); citations and enforcement under AS 18.60.091-18.60.093
What it required
Every Alaska employer owed a standing, affirmative duty to 'do everything necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of employees', to comply with every adopted standard, to furnish and prescribe protective equipment ((a)(2)), to adopt 'control or technological procedures' and monitor 'employee exposure in connection with hazards' ((a)(3)), and to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm ((a)(4)); SARS-CoV-2 was such a hazard from March 2020, and the distancing, screening, barrier, ventilation, respiratory-protection and sanitation measures were the means of discharging the duty.
Retrieval noteAS 18.60.075(a) is broader than the federal general duty clause: the federal clause (29 U.S.C. 654(a)(1)) requires a workplace free from recognized hazards; the Alaska clause first commands the employer to 'do everything necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of employees' and then lists the general duty as one of four included duties. AKOSH's Field Operations Manual applies (a)(4) as the State general duty clause. AS 18.60.088 gives employees the right to request a special inspection and AS 18.60.089 forbids retribution.