SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2021 | 7A
LRP opens auditions for OSHA adopts rule extending COVID workplace protections
‘Vagina Monologues’
The Last Resort Players
(LRP) have announced they
will hold auditions for “The
Vagina Monologues” by Eve
Ensler.
Variety called “The Vagi-
na Monologues” “Spellbind-
ing, funny, and almost un-
bearably moving … a work
of art and an incisive piece of
cultural history.”
The community is invited
to join LRP in bringing this
groundbreaking celebration
of womanhood back to the
Florence, Ore., stage.
All women are encour-
aged to audition. Previous
stage experience is not re-
quired, but people should
bring an adventurous spirit,
a sense of fun, and the ability
to speak honestly and from
the heart.
The show features 10
wildly divergent mono-
logues. Copies of the script
are available for preview.
Those considering audition-
ing should look at the script
and see which character or
characters “speak to them.”
Then they should come
prepared to read from the
script in a relaxed, warm and
welcoming environment.
Auditions will be held Fri-
day, May 14, at 7 p.m. and
Saturday, May 15, at 2 p.m.
at the Florence Playhouse,
208 Laurel St. Other audi-
tion times may be available
by special arrangement.
Performances will be at
City Lights Cinemas on June
24, 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. and
June 27 at 2 p.m.
For further information,
or to obtain a copy of the
script, contact Director Jim
Wellington at jwell.or@char-
ter.net or Assistant Direc-
tor Annie Schmidt at gan-
das39@charter.net.
People can view, raffle quilts
in Rhody Quilt Guild show
The Rhododendron
Quilt Guild is having a
Quilt Show on Friday and
Saturday, May 14 and 15,
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
Old School Furniture at
Sixth Street and Highway
101.
There will be a variety of
quilts shown using a pleth-
ora of different techniques,
showing each quilter’s indi-
vidual style.
According to Quilt Show
Chairperson Sandy David-
son, “This show will be a
little smaller than the last
one, but there will be quilts
for sale, as well as plenty of
‘eye candy’ for those who
enjoy looking at a variety of
colors and styles.”
Raffle quilts are already
hung at the store for those
who would like to take a
‘sneak peek’ and tickets are
available for purchase there
at Old School Furniture.
For more information
contact Davidson at San-
dyquiltsinflorence@gmail.
com or 541-991-0837.
FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS
/S IUSLAW N EWS
@S IUSLAW N EWS
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM
Oregon OSHA has ad-
opted a rule to maintain
risk-reducing safety mea-
sures for workers across
the state against the coro-
navirus. Although the rule
includes several changes
based on the public com-
ments received since the
rule was proposed in late
January, the basic require-
ments are largely consis-
tent with those that have
been in place since Oregon
OSHA adopted a tempo-
rary workplace rule in No-
vember of last year.
The rule – which will be
repealed when it is no lon-
ger needed to address the
COVID-19 pandemic in
the workplace – takes effect
today, at the end of a public
process that included both
stakeholder involvement
and more than two months
of public comment. As
with the temporary rule it
replaces, the rule includes
such health protection
measures as physical dis-
tancing; use of face cov-
erings; employee notifica-
tion and training; formal
exposure risk assessment
and infection control plan-
ning; and optimization and
maintenance of existing
ventilation systems.
One of the most signif-
icant areas of public com-
ment concerned the lack
of a specific sunset date or
other trigger to automat-
ically repeal the rule. As
a result, the final rule in-
cludes considerably more
detail about the process and
criteria that will be used to
make the decision o repeal
the rule. Oregon OSHA
determined that the on-
going pandemic required
that the rule be extended
to ensure workers receive
basic protections from the
workplace health hazard
presented by COVID-19.
The rule went through
the normal process, unlike
the greatly abbreviated pro-
cess allowed for a tempo-
rary rule, because Oregon
state law does not allow a
rule using that temporary
process to be in place more
than 180 days.
“We reviewed all of the
comments – including the
many comments that op-
posed the rule – and we
gave particular consider-
ation to those comments
that explained their reason-
ing or provided concrete
information,” said Michael
Wood, administrator of
Oregon OSHA. “Although
we chose to move forward
with the rule, the final
product includes a number
of changes based on that
record.”
“At the same time, we
are keeping in place key
protections for workers as
part of Oregon’s larger and
ongoing project to defeat
COVID-19,” Wood said.
“To allow the workplace
COVID-19 protections to
simply go away would have
left workers far less pro-
tected. And it would have
left employers who want to
know what is expected of
them with a good deal less
clarity than the rule pro-
vides.”
Because Oregon OSHA
determined it is not possi-
ble to assign a specific time
for a decision to repeal the
rule, Oregon OSHA has
committed to consulting
with the Oregon OSHA
Partnership Committee,
the two Infectious Dis-
ease Rulemaking Advisory
Committees, the Oregon
Health Authority, and other
stakeholders to help deter-
mine when the rule can be
repealed. The first of these
discussions will take place
no later than July 2021, and
will continue every two
months until the rule has
been repealed. The indica-
tors factoring into the deci-
sion will include infection
rates (including the rate of
spread of COVID-19 vari-
ants), positivity rates, and
vaccination rates, as well
as hospitalizations and fa-
talities.
While the final rule
broadly reflects the tem-
porary rule, it also includes
some significant changes.
Those include:
• Reducing the number
of industry-specific appen-
dices by six and limiting
such requirements specif-
ically to those involving
worker protection (which
reduced the length of the
appendices, and, therefore,
of the entire rule, by more
than 50 pages)
• Dramatically reducing
the K-12 schools appendix
and removing all referenc-
es to cohorts and square
footage limitations, as well
as physical distancing be-
tween students.
• Requiring employers
to consider alternatives to
transporting multiple peo-
ple in a single vehicle and
providing other guidance
about reducing risk while
sharing vehicles. The rule
does not, however, require
using multiple vehicles to
transport multiple employ-
ees.
• Requiring employers
with more than 10 employ-
ees – and that have existing
ventilation systems – to
state in writing that, to the
best of their knowledge,
they are running their sys-
tems in line with require-
ments. The final rule does
not require the purchase or
installation of new ventila-
tion systems.
• Reducing required san-
itation measures to reflect
the most up-to-date Cen-
ters for Disease Control
and Prevention guidance.
• Requiring employers
to provide written notifica-
tion to employees of their
rights to return to work
when employees must
Buying or Selling? I can help.
Hours:
Monday-Saturday
10:30am – 9:00pm
New Listing
We are open for take-out,
sidewalk & patio seating
Happy Mother’s Day
2143 Royal St Georges Dr – Beautiful Sand-
pines West home with 4 bdrms, 2 baths, laun-
dry, and covered front and back patios. Quartz
counters, white cabinets, vaulted ceilings and
beautifully landscaped grounds, with a fenced
area for pets and micro-drip system. $475,000.
#3200-21074898
Best Mexican Restaurant and Best Salsa
2825 Hwy 101, Florence • 541-997-1144
We are doing everything
we can to safely
serve our community.
Amy Johnson
Broker, CSA
541 999-7875
2020
VOTED
F LO E
R
Since 1983
541-997-7178
541-997-7777
100 Hwy. 101,
Florence, OR
COAST REAL ESTATE
ESTATE JEWELRY AND
ANTIQUE FURNITURE!!!
We buy, sell and consign quality
estate/heirloom jewelry & furniture.
Gold, silver, platinum jewelry with
precious & semi precious stones.
Call 541-997-8104,
Florence Antiques
&
Coast Jewelers
We’re buying used cars,
trucks and SUV’s.
Any make or model,
paid for or not.
Call, Text or Email
Cell: 541-505-1180
Alva@CBCoast.com
Insect & Pest Removal
Trapping • Mole/Gopher
Dead Animal Removal • Honey Bee Removal
Crawl Space Cleaning • Exclusion Work
Fumigation of Antiques and Commodities.
(541) 997-4027
MODEL TRAIN
ENTHUSIASTS
Auto, Home, Life, Business
Flood, Antique Auto, RV’s
Medicare Advantage Plans
Medicare Supplements
Health Insurance
Phone (541) 997-9497
1234 Rhododendron Dr / Florence
Over
ars
50 Ye ce!
rien
x
E pe
CALL ME TO BUY, SELL OR TRADE!
I’M LOCATED HERE IN FLORENCE.
541-255-9822 - Larry
landl316@live.com
Please call today for quote.
All quotes by appointment only.
Us TOO Florence
Prostate Cancer Education
Support on the Oregon Coast
www.ustooflorence.org
BOTH MEETINGS ARE CURRENTLY ON HOLD.
WATCH SIUSLAW NEWS FOR RESUMPTION
• Tuesday Evening Group (2nd Tuesday)
5-7 p.m. - Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant
• Urologist Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff attends.
• Tuesday Lunch Group (3rd Tuesday)
12 noon – 1:00 p.m. – Ichiban Chinese/Japanese
Restaurant
• Urologist Dr. Roger McKimmy attends.
Contact Bob for more information:
(H) 541-997-6626 • (C) 541-999-4239
maribob@oregonfast.net
1285 Bay Street, Old Town Florence
(541) 902-8338
NOTICE
Broker
4325 Highway 101
Florence, OR 97439
NC
www.1285Restobar.com
Your goals are my
top priority.
Let’s get together!
LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTERS
Tires • Brakes • Shocks
Alignments
F
BEST O
1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200
Alva Bracey
We are open:
11-8 daily
E
E
From our family to your
family, thank you!
We appreciate your support and
hope you are all doing well.
Food & Cocktails to go plus
2020
VOTED
NEW Outdoor Seating!
F
BEST O
F LO E N C
R
quarantine.
• Requiring health care
employers to provide res-
pirators to employees
working with known or
suspected COVID-19-pos-
itive patients, unless such
respirators are unavailable.
The final rule also makes
clear that the risk assess-
ment, infection control
plan, and infection control
training completed under
the temporary rule do not
need to be repeated as a re-
sult of the adoption of the
final rule.
The division offers re-
sources to help employers
and workers understand
and apply the require-
ments. Those resources
include consultation ser-
vices that provide no-cost
assistance with safety
and health programs and
technical staff, who help
employers understand re-
quirements.
Meanwhile, the divi-
sion has also adopted
COVID-19
workplace
requirements for work-
ers who rely on housing
provided by employers,
including as part of farm-
ing operations. Those re-
quirements were adopted
April 30, and will work in
tandem with the compre-
hensive COVID-19 rule
by providing specific guid-
ance for situations involv-
ing such housing.
Learn more about the
division’s workplace guid-
ance and resources relat-
ed to COVID-19: https://
osha.oregon.gov/Pages/re/
covid-19.aspx
Oregon OSHA, a divi-
sion of the Department
of Consumer and Busi-
ness Services, enforces the
state’s workplace safety and
health rules and works to
improve workplace safety
and health for all Oregon
workers. For more infor-
mation, go to osha.oregon.
gov.
Johnston Motor Company
Since 1939
2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence
(541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475
Serving the entire Oregon Coast.
Staff ed locally with factory trained professionals.
Residential and Commercial
Garage Door Installation.
541.997.5008
www.overheaddoor-eugene.com
Overhead Door Company of Th e Oregon Coast™
CCB# 50460