New York State HERO Act
NYSHFA|NYSCAL is providing information on the New York Health & Essential Rights Act (Hero Act). On May 5, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed the NY HERO Act into law and most recently, Governor Hochul announced the the Commissioner of Health has designated COVID-19 a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under New York State’s HERO Act, which requires all employers to implement workplace safety plans in the event of an airborne infectious disease, helping to prevent workplace infections (https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-kathy-hochul-announces-designation-covid-19-airborne-infectious-disease-under-new). This is an act to amend the labor law in relation to preventing occupational exposure to an airborne infectious disease and adds new sections to the Labor Law.
The law mandates new workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is intended to protect employees against exposure during an airborne infectious disease outbreak. Section 1 of the Act amends the Labor Law by adding Section 218-B which directs the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor to develop an Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan. Employers can choose to adopt the template or establish an alternative that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements.
Section 2 of the Act amends the Labor Law by adding section 27-d regarding the establishment of workplace safety committees. The Act defines employers broadly and states these covered employers must permit employees to establish and administer a joint labor/management workplace safety committee. Only one committee per worksite is required. If the employer has an existing safety committee that meets the requirements, it is exempt from creating an additional one. The Act defines the composition of the committee and indicates that employers are not permitted to interfere with the selection of employees who are on the committee.
We have included the Model Airborn Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan and the Hero Act Standard that will provide additional information on the HERO Act. We have also attached a Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan template as well as a general write up on the Act.
