Thread by @emily_hoeven

At the risk of bringing on early-onset carpal tunnel, I've decided to live-tweet as much of today's Cal/OSHA meeting as I can handle... Follow this thread for updates 🧵

After numerous buzzing sounds, Board president says, "People keep calling my phone, so I have to get it off the desk."

Person asks, "Has the meeting started?"

Really distracted by this "customize your view" widget that keeps popping up....

Dr. Tomas Aragon, the state's public health officer, says about 15% of CA's population (children) is not yet eligible for the vaccine.

Aragon notes that although CA is still requiring masks indoors at K-12 schools, that could change soon based on updated guidance from the CDC.

Is it just me, or could this part of the presentation have been an email? (Given that it was all announced at a press conference a few hours ago....)

Board member Chris Laszcz-Davis says she was led to believe there was going to be an alignment with CDC guidelines -- she asks "What did we learn today that wasn't already integrated in 2nd proposal" we endorsed last time?

Aragon: Everything aligns w/ CDC, but we took longer.

Board member Laura Stock: Why is everyone required to wear masks in certain workplaces (like public transit, facilities, etc.) and not others?

"What is the distinction?" she asks.

Aragon: We're aligning with the federal government. "That makes sense from an epidemiological standpoint" with all of the different people on public transit - how else would you determine vaccination status?

Stock says that a lot of people have to enter workplaces involuntarily -- basically, are obligated to -- where they're going to be mixing with a lot of people, not just in the above settings.

Stock adds that workplace outbreaks have probably been significantly undercounted, which Aragon agrees with: "There are settings where you don't realize the transmissions are happening"

Member of the public tries to ask a question, but is held off until later: Just for board to ask questions at the moment.

Board member Dave Harrison: Are we talking about face coverings or N95 masks?

Aragon: CDPH guidance is really directed toward the general public, so masks -- N95 respirators tend to be utilized in occupational settings.

Harrison: "I love your optimism" -- an apparent dig at Aragon saying that we have to trust people when they self attest their vaccination status

Yikes - members of the public keep trying to comment.

"Folks who are disruptive will be removed," a board member says.

Board member Laszcs-Davis: It certainly seems like the only kind of face covering you're recommending is an N95.

Aragon: That's something Cal/OSHA will handle.

Stock: It's very clear to me that N95 masks would be the protection that unvaccinated workers in the workplace would need, and it should be made available to them.

We want to make sure businesses have time to obtain these N95 masks, so we don't go out citing them ASAP, says the Board president.

"What's going to happen on June 15? Am I the only one who's confused?" asks one of the board members.

If the board votes to revoke the standards it passed last week, it would revert back to the rules from Nov. 2020. The earliest its guidance with new rules would go into effect would be June 28.

"It would have been nice to get this new guidance a couple of weeks ago," the board president says, an apparent dig at the California Department of Public Health.

Chris Laszcz-Davis: Someone asked if anyone's confused — I'm confused.

Dave Harrison: I don't support self-attestation in the workplace. "I would like to see something more concrete, of proof of vaccination in the workplace," he says.

"I'd like to see a reasonable timeline" to get a worker an N95 mask, he says.

"it's sobering to see the individual amount of workplace outbreaks," says board member Stock. "The pandemic is not over. ... We need to know we can reinstate protections that we know have worked so far."

"It felt empowering to me" that businesses have the choice for how they should determine customers' vaccination status, says board member Barbara Burgel. "I don't have a problem with self-attestation."

Asked if what Cal/OSHA passed last week aligns with CDPH guidance, Aragon says "I don't know."

"I did not come prepared to review CDPH's testing guidance with you," Aragon says to Cal/OSHA.

🌶️🌶️🌶️ Public comment about to start -- things are about to get SPICY 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Public comment will last up to 2 hours, board president says.

Helen Cleary, PRR: "I cannot follow the bouncing ball of messaging" being issued by state health leaders, agencies and politicians. "This process does not need to be chaotic," she says.

Bruce Wick, Housing Contractors of California: "We seem to have a regulation that will get more complex" even as things get better, that will "pit workers against each other, make them resent their employers intruding in their private decisions."

Wick: The average worker isn't going to appreciate not being able to get rid of face coverings, let alone N95s.

California's supposed to be roaring back, and this confusing regulation is going to significantly delete that roar, Wick says.

Direct clapback to @GavinNewsom campaign slogan

Kevin Bland: "I'm pretty intimate with this regulation, and I spent the entire weekend trying to write a letter to a client telling them how to comply" with all of the rules. "It got me lost. Instead of making it more complex to where consultants can't even follow it."

"Now we're making the employer be the bad guy instead of the state of California, and that's a difficult place to be in," Bland says.

Michael Miiller, CA Assocation of Winegrape Growers: "One week ago" no one knew about the Cal/OSHA board. "Now it's very unpopular. .. Your unpopularity poses a huge problem for @GavinNewsom."

The ETS is "an epic failure. It has nothing to do with California's successes. If you want to make California workplaces, get on the same pages as @GavinNewsom," says Miiller.

*California's workplaces safe

CA Farm Bureau rep: "Farmworkers are going to struggle to get N95s" during wildfire season if employers are rushing to procure the respirators to meet Cal/OSHA standards.

Katie Hansen, CA Restaurant Association: "N95s should be reserved for health care workers, emergency responders and farmworkers. ... We have the lowest case rates in the nation."

Rob Moutrie, CA Chamber of Commerce -- wants 4 minutes to speak. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

We need consistency with CDC mask guidelines. N95 availability has to be addressed. Employers urgently need clarity regarding documentation for vaccination.

Melissa Patack: It's "untenable" to expect businesses to change their rules every few weeks under the "timetables imposed by Cal/OSHA."

Not until 9 months into the pandemic was the first ETS issued. "We didn't wait for Cal/OSHA - we used public health guidance."

Educate/Advocate, statewide nonprofit: Terminate the ETS and "ensure vaccinated and unvaccinated people are treated equally," it's immoral to "segregate" them and "brand them with the scarlet letter of a face covering."

Lynn Mohrfeld of the CA Hotel & Lodging Association: I wish these rules could end tonight.

CA Nurses Association (first commenter in favor of the rules): We're concerned that rolling back restrictions could threaten medically vulnerable people and children. "We can't vaccinate our way out of this crisis. ... Please don't be persuaded by the argument" to eradicate ETS.

"Most workers do not have a choice about whether or not to work," going to work isn't the same thing as going to a BBQ, CA Nurses Association rep continues.

Vicki Osborn: "It's concerning" that CDPH has pulled back and allowed Cal/OSHA to handle workplaces by itself. "We're all going to be confused" about what to do, especially because CDPH are medical experts.

Worksafe rep: "I think people are savvy enough to understand" the changing rules "if we communicate them clearly."

Jeanine Dorn: "I'm a small private business owner," COVID treatments are hugely successful. "This makes face coverings obsolete. Masks create damage to the brain and cardiovascular system." They are making us poison ourselves.

Numerous callers saying that CA should not follow CDC guidelines because CDC has "financial interests" in pharmaceutical companies. The vaccine is a "bioweapon," says current caller.

This is "medical apartheid," caller says, adding it "violates the Nuremberg code."

Someone appears to be ordering "soft tacos" in the background of the caller or another person on the call.

"The recall people will thank you if you require this," the caller adds, saying it will backfire against @GavinNewsom.

"We are involved in our own health, and we don't need you to be our nanny," caller says to Cal/OSHA board.

Numerous people call in, "Hear, hear!" "You're not our nanny!"

Moderator: "If you continue to interrupt, you will be ejected."

Man interjects: "THAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH CALIFORNIA! THEY USE FILTERING FACE PIECES!"

Karen Tynan: These rules "frankly leave businesses flapping in the breeze." There has been "an absence in leadership," she adds.

Numerous callers saying California shouldn't have "a two-tier system" between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, which would "segregate those who wish to remain naturalist in their health care."

Caller says Cal/OSHA should be prepared from calls from federal lawyers for "breaking federal law."

"Say what you've come to say, that's fine, we don't need a cheering section in the back just because you've read something," the board president says after a caller is cut off and someone screams "LET HER TALK"

Caller is demanding the state conduct an audit into PCR tests.

A caller appears to be reading a letter he wrote in advance. He started off with "Dear Cal/OSHA," and adds he received the "COVID-19 experimental gene therapy" as he is a teacher.

OK you guys, I am going to stop live tweeting for the night.... time to order Chipotle lol

There's one public caller left, who they'll hear at 7:45.

Thanks for following along ✨

Update:

- Board voted to withdraw workplace rules passed last week (when it changed its mind twice).
- That means stricter rules from Nov 2020 go back into effect...
- Til June 17, when it will reconsider revising rules — again.
- New (new new new) rules could start June 28.