As was communicated last week, The New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act) was signed into law on May 5, 2021. The law mandates extensive new workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the NY HERO Act is to protect employees against exposure and disease during a future airborne infectious disease outbreak.
On September 6, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the designation of COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease under the HERO Act. This designation requires all employers to implement workplace safety plans.
Under this new law, the New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL), in consultation with the NYS Department of Health, has developed a new Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard, a Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan, and various industry-specific model plans for the prevention of airborne infectious disease. Please refer to Volume 3.10.1 of the policy manual to review the Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan for Ithaca College.
Now that the Governor has designated COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease, our plan has gone into effect. Due to the health and safety protocols already in place at the College, all of the minimum and many of the advanced controls are already in place. We will continue to monitor the ongoing status of the College. As of right now, the College remains in green status. However, additional exposure controls may be required should that status change.
To review the protocols currently in place, please visit the College’s COVID Health & Safety page for information on Face Coverings and Physical Distancing, Daily Health Screening, Surveillance Testing, the IC Health Badge, Travel and Visitor Guidelines, and plans for Contact Tracing, Quarantine, and Isolation.