Bill to require employers to create disease prevention plan

New York lawmakers passed legislation that would require employers in the state to establish an airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plan.

A.B. 2681, which passed the state’s Assembly with a 95-55 on Monday and the Senate with a 46-17 vote on Tuesday, would require the state’s labor commissioner to create and publish, in English and Spanish, a model airborne infectious disease exposure prevention standard.

Under the bill, the model must include requirements regarding employee health screenings, face coverings, personal protective equipment, hygiene stations, disinfecting procedures, social distancing, engineering controls and quarantine procedures, and take into account whether a state of emergency has been declared.

The legislation would mandate that employers either adopt the model standard for their industry or create their own plan that equals or exceeds the minimum standards in the model.

Employers who failed to adopt a standard would be fined at least $50 per day until such standard is adopted, and those who failed to abide by an adopted plan would be fined $1,000 to $10,000, according to the bill.

The bill has been returned to the Assembly for confirmation on the Senate’s amendments to the legislation.

More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.