How to fight the COVID-19 in your workplace ?
In the absence of a vaccine, an outbreak may also be an extended event. As a result, workplaces may experience:
Absenteeism
Workers could be absent because they are sick; are caregivers for sick family members; are caregivers for children if schools or day care centers are closed; have at-risk people at home, such as immunocompromised family members; or are afraid to come to work because of fear of possible exposure.
Change in patterns of commerce
Consumer demand for items related to infection prevention (e.g., respirators) is likely to increase significantly, while consumer interest in other goods may decline. Consumers may also change shopping patterns because of a COVID-19 outbreak. Consumers may try to shop at off-peak hours to reduce contact with other people, show increased interest in home delivery services, or prefer other options, such as drive-through service, to reduce person-to-person contact.
Interrupted supply/delivery
Shipments of items from geographic areas severely affected by COVID-19 may be delayed or cancelled with or without notification.
What you should do as a team manager
Developing an Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response Plan
Stay abreast of guidance from federal, state, local, tribal, and/or territorial health agencies, and consider how to incorporate those recommendations and resources into workplace-specific plans. Plans should consider and address the level(s) of risk associated with various worksites and job tasks workers perform at those sites. Such considerations may include:
Where, how, and to what sources of COVID-19 might workers be exposed, including: { The general public, customers, and coworkers; and { Sick individuals or those at particularly high risk of infection (e.g., international travelers who have visited locations with widespread sustained (ongoing) COVID-19 transmission, healthcare workers who have had unprotected exposures to people known to have, or suspected of having, COVID-19).
Non-occupational risk factors at home and in community settings.
Workers’ individual risk factors (e.g., older age; presence of chronic medical conditions, including immunocompromising conditions; pregnancy).
Controls necessary to address those risks.
Follow federal and state, local, tribal, and/or territorial (SLTT) recommendations regarding development of contingency plans for situations that may arise as a result of outbreaks, such as:
Increased rates of worker absenteeism.
The need for social distancing, staggered work shifts, downsizing operations, delivering services remotely, and other exposure-reducing measures.
Options for conducting essential operations with a reduced workforce, including cross-training workers across different jobs in order to continue operations or deliver surge services.Interrupted supply chains or delayed deliveries.
Prepare to Implement Basic Infection Prevention Measures
For most employers, protecting workers will depend on emphasizing basic infection prevention measures. As appropriate, all employers should implement good hygiene and infection control practices, including:
Promote frequent and thorough hand washing, including by providing workers, customers, and worksite visitors with a place to wash their hands. If soap and running water are not immediately available, provide alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60% alcohol.
Encourage workers to stay home if they are sick.
Encourage respiratory etiquette, including covering coughs and sneezes.
Provide customers and the public with tissues and trash
receptacles.
Employers should explore whether they can establish policies and practices, such as flexible worksites (e.g., telecommuting) and flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts), to increase the physical distance among employees and between employees and others if state and local health authorities recommend the use of social distancing strategies.
Discourage workers from using other workers’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment, when possible.
Maintain regular housekeeping practices, including routine cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, equipment, and other elements of the work environment.
Develop, Implement, and Communicate about Workplace Flexibilities and Protections
Actively encourage sick employees to stay home.
Ensure that sick leave policies are flexible and consistent with public health guidance and that employees are aware of these policies.
Talk with companies that provide your business with contract or temporary employees about the importance of sick employees staying home and encourage them to develop non-punitive leave policies.
Do not require a healthcare provider’s note for employees who are sick with acute respiratory illness to validate their illness or to return to work, as healthcare provider offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely way.
Maintain flexible policies that permit employees to stay home to care for a sick family member. Employers should be aware that more employees may need to stay at home to care for sick children or other sick family members than is usual.
Recognize that workers with ill family members may need to stay home to care for them.
Useful resources
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/disinfecting-building-facility.html
https://www.whca.org/files/2020/03/COVID-19-Sanitize-and-Disinfect.pdf
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf
