State codifies rapid response requirement in workforce regulations

Environmental board votes to make emergency rule standard in pandemic

The New Mexico Environment Department’s rule-making body voted Friday to add the so-called rapid response requirement to the state’s workforce safety regulations.

The rule requires employers to report coronavirus infections to the state within four hours of being notified that an employee has tested positive for the virus.

The Environment Department adopted the emergency rule in August and readopted it earlier this month.

Friday’s vote by the Environmental Improvement Board codifies the requirement, which will replace the emergency rule once it is delivered to the state records administrator.

“While the arrival of the vaccine is great news, we are not out of the woods yet,” Environment Secretary James Kenney said in a statement. “This amendment allows us to continue our critical work to ensure New Mexico workplaces are as safe as possible.”

The reporting requirement reduces the time it takes for the state’s rapid response team to respond to a positive case in the workplace, which helps prevent the virus from spreading further.

Businesses that have had at least two rapid responses in the past 14 days are put on the state’s COVID-19 watchlist.

As of Friday, 188 employers were on the list, including seven businesses in Santa Fe. NM Talent Inc. on Santa Fe Studios Road near the county jail has had at least five rapid responses due to employees testing positive for the virus in the past two weeks, according to the Environment Department.

It’s unclear whether the state will require the film production business to temporarily shut down, as other employers with multiple cases have been forced to do.

“We are currently evaluating the circumstances of the rapid responses and whether the business is subject to closure under the public health order,” said Maddy Hayden, a spokeswoman for the Environment Department.