In 2021, Washington passed the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA) which includes, among other things, notification requirements for health care facilities when a public health emergency is declared by either the President of the United States or by the Governor of Washington.

In order to be in compliance, employees of health care facilities, including dental offices, with known or suspected high-risk exposure to a disease that is the subject of the public health emergency, such as COVID-19, must be notified by employers within 24 hours of the confirmed exposure. If the employee is a member of a union and has authorized the facility to do so, the health care facility must notify the employee’s union representative as well. In this case, HELSA defines “high-risk exposure” as any of the following situations when an employee is in close proximity to a qualified individual and not wearing both a fit-tested respirator and all other required personal protective equipment. For these purposes, a “qualifying individual” means a person who has:

• Received a positive lab test for the disease that is the subject of the public health emergency;
• Received a positive diagnosis from a licensed health care provider of the disease that is the subject of the public health emergency;
• Received an order to isolate by a public health official related to the disease that is the subject of the public health emergency; or,
• Passed away due to the disease that is the subject of the public health emergency, as determined by the local health department.

A high-risk exposure situation refers to a situation where an employee is:

• Within six feet of a qualified individual for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the individual’s potential period of transmission. For COVID-19, the period of transmission begins two days prior to the onset of symptoms, or, for asymptomatic people, two days prior to the administration of a COVID-19 test. The period of transmission lasts until the point in time that a qualifying individual exits the worksite, begins isolating, or until the Center for Disease Control’s return-to-work criteria protocol has been satisfied, whichever is longer.
• In the same room as a qualifying individual that is undergoing an aerosol-generating procedure (AGP).
• In the room where a qualifying individual underwent an AGP prior to the end of the air clearing time, which is no more than three hours following the conclusion of a procedure. For clinical spaces that have six air exchanges per hour which is in accordance with the Department of Health clinical facility requirements, one hour of air clearing time is sufficient. For airborne infection isolation rooms, 15 minutes of air clearing time is sufficient.

Learn More

To learn more about HELSA, you can visit the Department of Labor and Industries’ HELSA page.