The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Utah
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Utah Code section 34A-6-104 (recited in the Utah State Bulletin notice, Ex. DUT-UT-019); Utah Code section 63G-3-304 (emergency rulemaking); Utah Code section 34A-6-202 (standards)
- Issued
- 2020-11-09 Nov. 9, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-11-09
- End
- 120-day emergency rule under Utah Code section 63G-3-304: expired on or about March 9, 2021 absent renewal; no renewal or permanent-rule notice for R614-1-5 appears in the Utah State Bulletins of January 1, February 1, March 1, March 15, April 1 or April 15, 2021 (each read); the Commission's page still posted the rule on March 3, 2021 (Wayback) and returned 404 by January 21, 2022 (read as 2021-03-09)
- In force
- Nov. 9, 2020 to Mar. 9, 2021
- Quarters
- 2020 Q42021 Q1
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Face-covering requirementWorkplace rulesStanding duty
- Addressees
- employers; employees (the Commission's page states that UOSH authority 'does not extend outside of situations where an employer/employee relationship is present')
- Character
- covid workplace rule
- Collection
- Standing duties: Utah DUT-UT
Operative words
On November 9, 2020, the Utah Department of Health declared a state public health emergency due to the spread of COVID-19 in Utah State Public Health Order 2020-21. At the direction of Governor Gary Herbert: 1. Hereafter, every employee shall be required to wear a face mask while that employee is at work, subject to the exceptions below.
Penalty
UOSH citations and civil penalties under Utah Code section 34A-6-307 (Ex. DUT-UT-012): up to $7,000 per violation and $70,000 per willful violation
What it required
Every employer in Utah had to require every employee to wear a face mask (defined to exclude masks with valves, vents or open weaves) while at work, subject to enumerated exceptions (eating or drinking, sole occupancy of a room with six feet of distance, communicating with the deaf, services requiring removal, swimming, performances, work where a mask 'would create a risk to the individual, as determined by government safety guidelines,' identity confirmation, and legal prohibition) and to exemptions for incapacitated persons and persons with medical, mental-health or developmental conditions; the rule 'does not supersede or negate the requirements for wearing a respirator.'
Retrieval noteThe Commission's own PDF of the rule as posted on its 'UOSH Emergency Rule' page (Wayback captures January 26, February 2 and March 3, 2021). The State-plan COVID-19 workplace rule for Utah: it converted the Governor's and the Department's mask orders (Exs. UT-029 to UT-032) into an occupational safety standard enforceable against the employer by UOSH citation, concurrent with the Department's orders enforceable under section 26-23-6. The Bulletin notice (Ex. DUT-UT-019) states its purpose: 'This rule would enable enforcement of the recommendations and orders given previously to wear face masks in the workplace.'.