The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- United States (applies in Colorado, a federal-OSHA State with no approved State plan for private-sector employers) · Colorado
- Level
- Federal
- Authority
- Pub. L. 91-596, § 5(a), 84 Stat. 1593 (1970)
- Issued
- 1970-12-29 Dec. 29, 1970
- Effective
- In force throughout 2020 Q2 - 2021 Q3 (read as 1970-12-29)
- End
- standing (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- Standing since Dec. 29, 1970 (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 private employer engaged in a business affecting commerce)
- Character
- workplace duty
- Collection
- Standing duties: Colorado DUT-CO
Operative words
Each employer— (1) shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees; (2) shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this chapter.
Penalty
Civil penalties under 29 U.S.C. § 666 (in 2020-2021 up to $13,494 per serious or general-duty violation, the figure OSHA proposed in its Sept. 10, 2020 Smithfield general-duty citation, Ex. AGY-FED-LABOR-IMMIGRATION-031); willful or repeated violations up to ten times that amount
What it required
Bound every Colorado private employer to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm, the duty OSHA enforced against COVID-19 exposure through its 2020-2021 guidance, interim enforcement response plans, national emphasis program and general-duty citations.
Retrieval noteSaved in the CO duties folder because Colorado has no State general-duty statute: the 2018 Title 8 lists former § 8-1-109 'Employer to furnish safe place to work' as repealed; § 8-1-101(13) still defines 'safe' as applied to a place of employment ('such freedom from danger to the life, health, and safety of employees... as the nature of the employment reasonably permits'); and HB 26-1054, which would have enacted a State general duty at § 8-14.4-203, was lost on Senate third reading May 13, 2026 (leg.colorado.gov). The federal library holds OSHA's COVID-19 instruments: Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 (Mar. 2020, Ex. AGY-FED-LABOR-IMMIGRATION-029), Interim Enforcement Response Plans (Apr. 13, 2020; May 19, 2020; Mar. 12, 2021, Ex. -020, -024, -025), Protecting Workers guidance (Jan. 29, June 10 and Aug. 13, 2021, Ex. -030), the National Emphasis Program (Ex. -026, -028) and the Healthcare ETS, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.502 (June 21, 2021). The U.S. Code PDF is two-column; the quoted words appear at the head of subsection (a).