Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA checklist documents. Industry employee working on virtual touchscreen selects osha document icon.

Amid the recent uptick in Delta variant COVID-19 cases, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its guidance for frontline employees. The update, as reported by Reuters, now recommends that all employees continue to wear masks in “areas of substantial or high community transmission” regardless of vaccination status.

Example areas cited by the organization where frontline cleaning staff will inevitably preside include: 

• Retail establishments

• Meat processing facilities

• Manufacturing plants

In addition to recommending the wearing of masks, OSHA also shared other infection control tips, including staggered clock-in/clock-out times and lunch breaks to avoid instances where large numbers of employees gather at once. 

Many companies outside of the cleaning industry have also initiated vaccination requirements for a percentage of employees — including DoorDash, Uber and Walmart — so it may come as little surprise if facility cleaning departments, distributors and BSCs alike start seeming a similar trend as the fall months approach.

For more information on how vaccinated people can still spread COVID-19, click here.