- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
County of Lake waiting on state for updated COVID-19 workplace guidance
The county of Lake is the largest employer in the county with close to 1,000 employees, according to county documents.
In response to the pandemic and in order to adhere to federal and state mandates, the county of Lake drafted its own COVID-19 workplace protocol, which the board accepted last year and has updated when necessary in order to keep its employees safe.
The state of California began its reopening on Tuesday with the official lifting of the original March 2020 stay-at-home order and the retiring of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which included tiers for tracking transmission. Lake County was in the orange tier, or moderate tier, when the blueprint ended Tuesday.
However, while the state transitions, inconsistencies have yet to be resolved between the guidance offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health, and California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA.
Cal/OSHA continues to keep in place regulations from November, based on its website, although this week it will consider adopting revised guidance.
County Administrative Office staff went to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to offer an update and discuss proposed actions while waiting for a decision from the state.
“There’s a distinct conflict between the Cal/OSHA guidance for employees in our workplaces and the governor’s guidance and the guidance of CDC and CDPH,” said County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson.
Huchingson said the administration sent out an email blast to county employees on Monday to let them know they need to continue to mask at this time, although vaccinated members of the public don't need to mask when visiting county facilities.
She said they are hoping that this conflict will be resolved on Thursday, when the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is next set to meet.
County staff had intended to bring forward a revision of the COVID-19 workplace protocol for Tuesday. Huchingson said Human Resources Director Pam Samac had written the revised protocol but they had to pull it back due to changing information coming out of Cal/OSHA.
Samac said Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking Cal/OSHA to make the updated regulations effective on Thursday and waive the normal 10-day waiting period.
Samac and Huchingson told the board that if the new rules do become effective on Thursday, they will send another email blast to employees to advise them that they are allowing an exception to the county’s COVID-19 protocol, and then the board will officially update the county guidance at its June 22 meeting.
Board Chair Bruno Sabatier asked about signage in the courthouse for safety protocols such as face masks.
“We need to get out and take those down,” said Huchingson.
Huchingson said Samac had drafted an amendment last week that included a form for employees to indicate their vaccination status, but they won’t know until Cal/OSHA makes a decision about whether that form will be included in the revised county guidelines.
Samac said it’s her understanding that Cal/OSHA is leaning toward making its policy consistent with CDC and CDPH. “But you just never can tell with OSHA.”
Huchingson said they appreciate county employees continuing to follow the rules. “We know it’s a frustrating situation when masks are not required for the public but are still required for employees, but that’s the way it stands at this time.”
“This has been two months in the marking and this is where bureaucracy becomes frustrating,” said Sabatier.
He said Cal/OSHA impacts a majority of businesses, “So all of our businesses are having to make a decision today and it’s a very unfortunate situation that we have to wait for this.”
Elizabeth Arnold, president of the Lake County Employees Association, the largest county employee labor group, noted concerns that some employees have about the potential changes in rules because they either haven’t yet been vaccinated or don’t intend to be.
Huchingson, who was wearing a mask, said employees can continue to wear masks as long as they feel the need to do so and that she intended to continue masking in her department. She’s also planning to leave up shields in areas with public contact.
Samac said that unvaccinated people would still need to wear masks, which is consistent with CDC guidance. She recommended keeping in place all physical barriers for public facing service.
Arnold asked if employees who come to work and are ill will be made to mask. Huchingson said employees who are sick shouldn’t come to work.
Supervisor Moke Simon moved to implement the Cal/OSHA rule changes on Thursday with the board to ratify them on Tuesday, with Supervisor EJ Crandell seconding and the board voting 5-0.
On a related note, at the Lakeport City Council meeting on Tuesday night, Councilman Michael Green asked city staff to come back at a future meeting with an update on how Lakeport will respond to the new state COVID-19 guidance.
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