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Earlier this week, the NYS Department of Labor (DOL) published the long-awaited “Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard” (Standard), a general “Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan,” and several industry-specific model prevention plans as well. These are now available on the DOL’s website. The model plans are currently available in English, but the website states that they will also be available in Spanish soon, as required by statute. • Click here to learn more about the updated New York State Hero Act. • Click here to review the airborne infectious disease exposure prevention standard. • Click here to review the model airborne and infectious disease exposure prevention plan. • Click here to review the model airborne and infectious disease exposure prevention plan for the CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY. NOTE • The law requires employers to adopt a written plan within 30 days of the release of these documents. • All employers must have a written plan in place no later than Thursday, August 5, 2021. • All employers must verbally review and communicate the plan to their employees by September 4, 2021. There must be a posting of the plan in the workplace and included in your employee handbook. • Effective November 1, 2021, employers with “at least 10” employees are permitted to establish workplace safety committees to address airborne infectious disease in the workplace. The Department of Labor will be promulgating guidance/regulations regarding the implementation of these committees over the summer. Workplace safety committees are limited to this specific law and employees are required to provide their employers with 30 days’ notice and an opportunity to cure a violation before commencing a civil action. The airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans must go into effect when an airborne infectious disease is designated by the New York State Commissioner of Health as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health. Currently, while employers must adopt plans as required by the law, as of the date of this writing no designation has been made and plans are not required to be in effect. The standard applies to only an airborne infectious agent or disease designated by the Commissioner of Health as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health. This standard does not apply to: • Employees or independent contractors of the state, any political subdivision of the state, a public authority, or any other governmental agency or instrumentality. • Any employee within the coverage of a temporary or permanent standard adopted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration setting forth applicable standards regarding COVID-19 and/or airborne infectious agents and diseases; and • Any seasonal or endemic infectious agent or disease, such as the seasonal flu, that has not been designated by the Commissioner of Health as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health.