Labor unions hoping for permanent workplace safety standards to protect healthcare staff from COVID-19 infections in the workplace were dealt a blow Friday when an appeals court denied an emergency petition they filed.

Unions pushed heavily for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to implement a federal emergency temporary standard for medical facilities amid shifting guidance from national and local agencies through the first year of the pandemic.

OSHA did so in June 2021 with a rule mandating hospitals and other healthcare facilities follow requirements around ventilation, physical barriers and other protections intended to reduce virus transmission.

In December, the agency then announced it would withdraw the rule though it was working toward a permanent regulatory solution while considering broader infectious disease rulemaking.