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Face coverings have been recommended for the public and workers to prevent person-to-person transmission of COVID-19. Throughout 2020, guidelines for face coverings recommended multiple layers worn tightly against the face with straps or ear loops. This article briefly describes a new ASTM 3502 Standard Specification for Barrier Face Coverings (BFCs) and the development of performance criteria for workplace BFCs ahead of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). We also describe a method for comparing the effect on the time to receipt of an infectious dose (ID) of BFCs with varying degrees of inward leakage (personal protection) and outward leakage (source control). The role of BFCs in workplace settings during the pandemic and for exposure to infectious respiratory organisms after the pandemic remains in question. It will be important for occupational health and safety professionals to recognize their limitations in contrast with respiratory protection.

It is clear that the public health community is concerned about the human health impacts of climate change, but are we inadvertently underestimating the scope of the problem and obfuscating potentially useful interventions by using a narrow intellectual frame in our discussions with policy makers? If we take a more holistic approach, we see that the public health impacts of climate change are only one subset of the enormous public health impacts of fossil fuel burning. This broader perspective can provide a more accurate and comprehensive assessment that is more useful for decision making in public policy settings.

Carework-the paid and unpaid work in healthcare, education, childcare, mental health, elder care, families, and social services-is linked by the social and ethical obligation to care for vulnerable populations and is a major economic sector and important source of employment internationally. This special issue of New Solutions focuses on understanding working conditions and workplace health and safety in carework professions and for seeking solutions to these dilemmas. As members of the Carework Network Steering Committee, we reflect on the importance of the topics raised in this special issue and describe next steps for carework research and scholarship.