As U.S. companies reopen in phases amid the sustained COVID-19 pandemic, employers are required to prevent and contain a COVID-19 outbreak. In fact, OSHA mandates that all employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace. The coronavirus pandemic presents no exception to that rule, yet business leaders are hard pressed to find clinically-substantiated guidance to ensure the health and safety of their personnel in their specific work environments.
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In this article, we outline the minimum requirements that business leaders should implement to prevent COVID-19 infections and minimize coronavirus-related health risks in the workplace.
If you would like more comprehensive support, our Workplace Health program is a simple experience that makes it easier to test and screen employees onsite and reduce the risk of COVID-19 workplace outbreaks through guidance that ensures compliance with stringent ADA standards, OSHA requirements, and CDC recommendations.
All employers should implement coronavirus-related actions, such as:
- conducting daily in-person or virtual health checks to prevent and reduce transmission
- conducting a hazard assessment of the workplace
- encouraging employees to wear cloth face coverings in the workplace, if appropriate
- determining what type of controls or PPE are needed for specific job duties
- implementing policies and practices for social distancing in the workplace
- providing tissues and no-touch trash cans.
- providing soap and water in the workplace
- providing alcohol-based hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol, if soap and water are not available
- encouraging methods of greeting that do not require contact
- limiting travel whenever possible
- minimizing risk to employees when planning meetings and gatherings
- protecting workers from potential exposures, according to their exposure risk
- performing routine cleaning according to CDC Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting
- improving the building ventilation system
All employers should implement and update a plan that:
- is specific to the work environment
- identifies all areas and job tasks with potential exposures to COVID-19
- includes control measures to eliminate or reduce such exposures
- encourages employees to follow new policies or procedures related to illness, cleaning, meetings, and travel
- identifies heightened travel risks by monitoring international and national updates
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All employers should actively and safely monitor employee wellness by:
- requiring employees who have symptoms to notify their supervisor and stay home
- discouraging infected employees from returning until criteria to discontinue home isolation are met
- requiring employees with an infected family member at home to notify their supervisor
- immediately separating and sending home employees who appear to have symptoms
- safely transporting an employee who becomes sick at work, either to their home or to a healthcare provider
All employers and employees should make sure to:
- cover coughs and sneezes
- maintain at least 6 feet of distance between each other whenever possible
- wear a mask in public settings, even when following social distancing guidelines
- wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- if soap and water are not available, clean hands with a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol
With no end to the pandemic in sight, all business leaders need to consider how best to decrease the spread of COVID-19 and lower the virus’s impact in their workplace. At Because Health, we help your company manage its COVID-19 response strategy each step of the way, including your return-to-work programs, policy compliance, workplace exposure risk assessment and mitigation, and so much more.
As new information about the coronavirus is discovered, employers should make a practice of regularly monitoring CDC recommendations as well as local and state government sources for updated guidance as the situation evolves.