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Members, 

Please see the notice below regarding home and community support services agencies, now not required to comply with any requirement in HHSC rule that mandates face coverings in response to the COVID-19 disaster. Providers must continue to comply with applicable infection control rules, including those addressing compliance with CDC and CMS guidance. (see complete notice below).

As a reminder, although not mentioned in this HHSC's notice, providers are required to comply with Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the "General Duty Clause") which requires an employer to furnish to its employees: "a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees..." Employers can be cited for violation of the General Duty Clause if a recognized serious hazard exists in their workplace and the employer does not take reasonable steps to prevent or abate the hazard. The General Duty Clause is used only where there is no standard that applies to the particular hazard.

·       The following elements are necessary to prove a violation of the General Duty Clause:

§  The employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which employees of that employer were exposed;

§  The hazard was recognized;

§  The hazard was causing or was likely to cause death or serious physical harm; and

§  There was a feasible and useful method to correct the hazard.

Please stay tuned as we learn more about the HHSC's rule rescindments related to face coverings in response to COVID-19.  

New Guidance for Long-term Care Facilities, HCSSAs and In-patient Hospices on Masks