Comments on Proposed NY HERO Act Regulations

A core provision of the NY HERO Act is its requirement that the department of labor, together with the department of health, create industry-specific model airborne infectious disease exposure prevention standards, and a general standard for work sites not covered by the industry-specific standards. However, from the very beginning the regulations have caused confusion. Because of the various forms the department of labor utilized to publish its standard, it has been unclear what constitutes a requirement versus a suggestion or guidance, and whether the industry-specific templates are in fact the standards required by the statute or something else. In addition, the regulations fail to include standards regarding subject matters that were explicitly required by the legislation. The current proposed regulations are therefore insufficient in both form and substance.