OSHA Chief Grilled on Virus Enforcement, Lack of Rulemaking (1)

OSHA’s performance during the coronavirus pandemic was center stage on Capitol Hill during a House hearing as Democrats challenged agency administrator Loren Sweatt.

“Deep into this pandemic, OSHA has still not developed any enforceable standards for employers to follow that can protect workers from the airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus,” Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.), chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, said in her opening statement Thursday.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s “existing enforcement tools to combat this pandemic, which include standards covering respirators and personal protective equipment, are inadequate and unused,” Adams said.

Sweatt, the principal deputy ...