OSHA, FDA develop checklist to help protect food industry employees from coronavirus

Posted August 24, 2020

OSHA and the FDA have developed a checklist for food industry employers to consider when continuing, resuming, or reevaluating operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. The checklist is intended for those growing, harvesting, packing, manufacturing, processing, or holding human and animal food regulated by FDA. It includes the following considerations:

• Ensuring employee health and a safe workplace;
• Investigating exposure and determining when to test employees for the coronavirus; and
• Configuring the work environment to help minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

It can be used in conjunction with other sector-specific information, such as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and OSHA for agriculture and meat and poultry processing workers and employers.

This article was written by Rachel Krubsack of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.