The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- United States (applies directly in Georgia, which has no State occupational-safety plan for private employers) · Georgia
- Level
- Federal
- Authority
- U.S. Const. art. I, section 8 (Commerce Clause); 29 U.S.C. section 651 et seq.
- Issued
- 1970-12-29 Dec. 29, 1970
- Effective
- standing (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 employer engaged in a business affecting commerce, 29 U.S.C. section 652(5)); employees
- Character
- workplace duty
- Collection
- Standing duties: Georgia DUT-GA
Operative words
(a) 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. section 666 (serious, willful, repeated and failure-to-abate violations); criminal penalties for a willful violation causing death (section 666(e)); federal OSHA (Region IV, Atlanta-East, Atlanta-West and Savannah Area Offices) enforces in Georgia
What it required
Every Georgia employer engaged in a business affecting commerce had to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm (SARS-CoV-2 was a recognized hazard from the first days of the emergency) and to comply with OSHA standards, including the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard, 29 C.F.R. section 1910.502, from June 21, 2021; each employee 'shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this chapter' (subsection (b)).
Retrieval noteOfficial United States Code, 2020 edition (Office of the Law Revision Counsel, via govinfo). Saved in Duties/GA because Georgia is a federal-OSHA State: the general duty clause is the operative workplace-safety duty for Georgia's private employers. OSHA's COVID-19 guidance and enforcement instruments are already in the library and are cited by their existing IDs: Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, OSHA 3990 (Ex. FED-088); the Interim Enforcement Response Plans of April 13 and May 19, 2020 (Exs. AGY-FED-LABOR-IMMIGRATION-020, -024); the recording guidance of April 10 and May 19, 2020 (Exs. -019, -023); the National Emphasis Program and DIR 2021-01 of March 12, 2021 (Exs. -025, -026).