On Jan. 31, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, by a bipartisan vote of 227-203. ABC supported the legislation, which would eliminate the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate on health care workers and repeal the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services health care staff vaccination rule that continues to affect ABC members who perform construction work at health care facilities. ABC provided a statement in support of the bill ahead of passage.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently issued an updated suicide prevention poster that you can customize with your logo and post in the workplace. Everyone can help prevent suicide. Do your part to raise awareness of the warning signs of suicide and how to get help if a colleague is in crisis.

There’s a brand-new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis. The 988 lifeline connects callers to an existing network of more than 200 local crisis call centers across the United States, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s number—1 (800) 273-8255—will route calls to 988. The goal is to aid those seeking help through safe, immediate intervention, similar to the 911 hotline for emergencies. 

From Aug. 9-16, ABC celebrated Safe + Sound Week to recognize the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offer information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe.

On July 15, Occupational Safety and Health Administration released additional materials to educate the workforce on heat illness prevention.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, more than 40% of heat-related worker deaths occur in the construction industry.  As with all incidents, heat illness is entirely preventable, provided you develop and implement simple preventive measures. 

ABC of California applauded the California State Assembly for the unanimous and bipartisan passage of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 23, which proclaims March 18, 2021 as Construction Suicide Prevention Awareness Day in California—raising awareness of an important health problem affecting the state’s construction industry. ABC of California supports ACR 23 and is currently working alongside its author, Assembly member Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton), to help change the conversation around suicide and suicide prevention.

On Feb. 1, ABC joined 41 trade associations in urging Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Charlotte A. Burrows to quickly issue guidance clarifying the extent to which employers may offer employees incentives to vaccinate without running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws enforced by the EEOC.

On July 15, Virginia became the first state in the nation to enact an Emergency Temporary Standard to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The ETS will go into effect at the end of July.

ABC is committed to providing its members with the latest health, safety, economic and policy information regarding the coronavirus pandemic. To better manage the growing number of resources, ABC just updated its Coronavirus Update webpage to simplify and improve navigation, with topics and resources organized in four different categories: Employer Resources, Employee Resources, National Markets and State & Local Markets.