State-specific OSHA guidelines: South Carolina

South Carolina maintains an OSHA approved occupational safety and health program administered by the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) through its Office of Occupational Safety and Health. Following OSHA’s issuance of the June 21, 2021 ETS requiring healthcare facilities to develop and implement an effective COVID-19 plan, the LLR notified OSHA that it did not intend to adopt the ETS and instead intended to promulgate a separate state standard that would address all infectious diseases, including COVID-19, and be at least as effective as the OSHA standard in accordance with 29 C.F.R. 1953.5(b). 

On August 27, 2021, the LLR published a notice of drafting in the South Carolina State Register notifying the public of its intent to adopt the statewide infectious disease standard. However, prior to publication of the state standard, the LLR received a letter from OSHA announcing the federal agency’s decision to reconsider its approval of South Carolina’s state plan because of OSHA’s determination that South Carolina’s state standard would be less effective than the June 21, 2021 OSHA ETS. Given this determination that the state infectious disease standard would be insufficient to comply with 29 C.F.R. 1953.5(b) and the consequent possibility that South Carolina’s state plan could lose OSHA approval, the LLR has since adopted the June 21, 2021 OSHA ETS.

As of the date of this publication, the LLR has not indicated whether it plans to adopt the November 5, 2021 emergency standard (the ETS) issued by OSHA directed to all employers with 100 or more employees. Given the pending litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court, the situation remains fluid.