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Labor Alert – January 2023

ALERT – LABOR

Provisions for the surveillance, prevention and health control of workers at risk of exposure to COVID-19

Today, R.M. Nº 031-2023/MINSA (“RM 031”) was published, which approves a new administrative directive for the surveillance, prevention and control of workers’ health against COVID-19.

The Directive brings the following main novelties:

  • It maintains the obligation to have the “Plan for the Surveillance, Prevention and Control of COVID-19 at work”.
  • It ratifies that employers must not have to verify that all workers are vaccinated against COVID-19 on a mandatory basis but on a preferential basis.
  • It regulates the mandatory use of face masks in the following cases: (i) in customer service positions (double mask); (ii) in means of transport of workers, according to the regulations issued by the National Health Authority; and, (iii) for health workers who work in environments with very high and high risk of exposure to COVID-19.
  • It eliminates the minimum distance of 1.5m in dining rooms, elevators, dressing rooms and cafeterias.
  • It identifies, in Annex 2, the risk factors for COVID-19, such as: persons over 65 years of age, cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, heart disease, type 1 or 2 DM, obesity BMI >30, organ transplant recipient, cerebrovascular disease, high blood pressure, Down syndrome, pregnancy and HIV infection.
  • It stipulates that workers in the risk group are reinstated only after evaluation by the OSH service. Preferably, they must not work in high or very high risk positions.
  • It recognizes that the isolation of suspected or confirmed cases is for a maximum of 10 days, which may be extended exceptionally according to the medical evaluation.
  • It eliminates the period of up to 6 months after childbirth for pregnant and breastfeeding women to perform remote work.
  • It eliminates the following annexes: (i) personal protective equipment for work positions, (ii) flow chart to evaluate the relevance of face-to-face, semi-presential or remote work and (iii) recommendations for the progressive return of workers.
  • It eliminates the obligations to monitor exposure to other risk factors (ergonomic or psychosocial) and to include mental health measures in the Covid-19 Plan.