Protecting Alaska’s workers must be a priority

A global pandemic is an exceptional time, and one that requires thoughtful, courageous leadership. After more than six months, we understand the devastating effects of COVID-19. Once thought a danger limited to older and immune-compromised individuals, we now understand that COVID-19 can compromise the health of even young adults with no pre-existing conditions. Further, data reveals that communities of color are disproportionally affected by COVID-19. Black, Hispanic and minority communities have less access to adequate health care, wealth, and often fill essential frontline jobs that cannot be completed from home. 

After several months of an appallingly lackluster federal response, it is clear that the leadership we so desperately need will not come from Washington, D.C. The agency charged with protecting America’s workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has dropped the ball. Thus far, OSHA has failed to issue a single mandate regarding workplace safety and COVID-19, despite ample evidence that simple safety precautions can significantly curb the spread of this deadly virus.  

Even in the absence of a meaningful federal response, Alaska’s workers are not without hope. Alaska’s Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) program, housed in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, can implement meaningful regulatory changes to protect workers during this pandemic. Some of these mandates can include:

• Mandatory use of masks in enclosed workspaces, and a requirement to provide masks to all employees

• Implementing social distancing at worksites, either through flexible work schedules, telework arrangements, alternating shifts, reconfiguring workspaces, or installing partitions

• Common-sense sanitation practices, such as a requirement to provide hand-sanitizer, gloves, and/or hand-washing breaks to employees 

• Mandatory reporting to employees in the event of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases

• Regular disinfection of workplaces, mandatory after confirmed COVID-19 cases

• Cleaning and disinfecting HVAC intakes and returns regularly

• Whistleblower protection for employees reporting unsafe working conditions related to COVID-19

While far from exhaustive, these are some of the reasonable actions AKOSH can take right now to keep Alaska’s workers safe. Yet in a recent legislative hearing, not only did department officials admit the agency has not taken specific regulatory action on COVID-19, AKOSH also had no involvement with the administration’s reopening plans. How is it possible that the administration sought no recommendations for safe reopening practices from the agency charged with protecting workers? 

AKOSH officials acknowledged confusion amongst employers about implementing proper workplace safety practices, and admitted that thus far the role of AKOSH has been mainly relegated to “fielding inquiries” from employers and the public. While AKOSH officials claimed that the “General Duty” clause, a catch-all provision that requires an employer to provide a workplace “free from recognized hazards,” will protect workers during the pandemic — the statistics don’t bear that out. Well under 1% of AKOSH violations are categorized under the General Duty clause, and all General Duty clause violations over the last three years (all three of them) resulted from workplace fatalities.

In that same legislative hearing, an Anchorage hotel and restaurant worker laid bare the most brutal truth about this pandemic: the lowest paid workers in the industry are the most exposed. This employee, concerned about workplace practices while also caring for a parent with cancer, pleaded for more guidance and regulation from state government. Poignantly, he offered that “businesses are urged to make money and sacrifice safety just to survive.” But without specific standards to provide guidance and regulatory oversight for employers, AKOSH enforcement officials are left virtually powerless to protect Alaska’s workers from the spread of this deadly virus.

As former Labor Department commissioners, we urge the administration to take greater action to protect Alaska’s workers. We hear from state employees required to report to the office, though many if not most can easily perform their jobs from home. We hear repeatedly from hotel and restaurant workers about fears for their personal safety, or the well-being of their families, when they are required to break social distancing requirements in the workplace. We hear about irregular disinfection practices at workplaces, and the failure to report positive COVID-19 cases to workers. We’ve also learned that often when an employer’s public-facing practices appear to follow basic requirements such as wearing masks, constructing partitions, and following social distancing guidance, such policies are ignored in break rooms and other non-public areas.

COVID-19 knows no state or international boundary, no race, no age, no gender and no political party. It is insidious and threatens our communities and our Alaskan way of life. Employers and workers deserve decisive and comprehensive policies to protect Alaskans during this pandemic, and to ensure our economy can once again thrive. The world is at war with a common enemy, and our leaders must rise to the challenge to protect our communities from the ravaging effects of this virus. This response must prioritize protecting Alaska’s workers.

Heidi Drygas is an attorney in private practice in Juneau, and served as Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development under Gov. Bill Walker. Ed Flanagan lives in Juneau, and served as Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development under Gov. Tony Knowles.

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