Changes to the CA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) (8CCR 3205) Effective Jan 14, 2022

The California Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) addressing workplace response and responsibilities to the SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) pandemic which has been in place since November 2020 has been revised. The revisions which were adopted in December 2021, include significant changes to several areas of the current standard.

Key changes noted for the ETS are the following:

• ACCEPTABLE COVID-19 TESTING PROTOCOLS. Under the revised ETS, when testing is required to determine COVID-19 status, tests must be carried out in a manner prescribed under the new revised standard. Please refer to the standard (8CCR3205) for more details.
• TESTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CLOSE CONTACTS. Testing must be provided to all identified close contacts regardless of vaccination status. The only exemptions are for asymptomatic employees who recovered from COVID-19 within the past ninety (90) days from the exposure incident.
• TESTING REQUIREMENT FOR OUTBREAKS. In the event of an outbreak, all employees in the exposed group regardless of vaccination status must be offered testing.
• EMPLOYEE EXCLUSION AND QUARANTINE CHANGES. No quarantine is required for fully vaccinated employees but they are required to social distance and wear face covering for a period of fourteen (14) if they remain in the workplace and are asymptomatic. This also applies to workers who have recovered from COVID-19 within ninety (90) days of the close contact. Additionally, quarantine periods have been revised with recent changes. Please refer to the link below that outlines the changes and provides a link to the updated changes.
• ACCEPTABLE FACE COVERING CHANGES. In general single layer cloth masks will no longer be acceptable face coverings. Face covering will need to be medical grade, surgical, N95, KN95 or similar. While the aforementioned surgical and medical grade masks are acceptable, the use N95 or KN95 are highly regarded as providing the optimal level of protection, especially in the current omicron variant surge.

In terms of requirements that remain in the new ETS, the following continue to be part of the ETS and CPP program:

• System for communicating.
• Identification and evaluation of COVID-19 hazards.
• Investigating and responding to COVID-19 cases in the workplace.
• Correction of COVID-19 hazards.
• Training and instruction.
• Provision of Face Coverings.
• Engineering and Other Control Measures
• Reporting and Recordkeeping
• Exclusion of COVID-19 cases and Close Contacts
• Return to Work Process

For additional information:

UPDATE – COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards What Employers Need to Know About the December 16 Standards (ca.gov)

California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 3205. COVID-19 Prevention.