During a joint hearing of the House Health and Social Services and House State Affairs committees on Wednesday, lawmakers heard testimony from frontline workers and workplace safety experts who urged the Dunleavy Administration to establish workplace safety standards as organizations across our state navigate the challenges of working during a pandemic.
Alaska Occupational Safety and Health has the authority to create regulations and guidance ranging from best practices in physical distancing to air flow management in state and public buildings, and some legislators believe that sufficient steps have not taken place.
Chair of the House Health and Social Services Committee Tiffany Zulkosky, of Bethel: “I am alarmed by the lack of coordination between the Administration and Alaska Occupational Safety and Health – which sets workplace safety standards for businesses across the state – to issue evidence-based guidance to safely reopen amidst a global pandemic. Businesses need clear, comprehensive standards to ensure Alaska is safely reopening our economy in a way that protects frontline workers and Alaskans who patron local businesses.”
The joint hearing included testimony from teachers, hotel workers, and specialists who testified about dangerous working conditions.
Terri Gerstein, Director of the State and Local Enforcement Project under the Harvard Labor and Worklife Program testified about many states which, unlike Alaska, have taken action to ensure safety of both public and private workplaces.
Rebecca Himschoot, an English as a Second Language specialist in Sitka, told members of the committees that it is impossible for schools to operate safely without a statewide face covering mandate.