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Coronavirus: Best Practices for your business, restaurant, delivery service, etc.
Coronavirus: Best Practices for your business, restaurant, delivery service, etc.
If you are a business owner looking for guidance to project your employees, your customers yourself and your business itself from this of coronavirus (both the health risk and the business liabilities) the resources on this page and those linked to below will be helpful.
This page discusses protecting employees and screening processes
Screening, Preventing and Reducing Coronavirus Transmission Among Employees
Monitor federal, state, and local public health communications about COVID-19 regulations, guidance, and recommendations and ensure that
workers have access to that information. Frequently check the CDC
COVID-19 website.
Actively encourage sick employees to stay home
Consider conducting daily in-person or virtual health checks (e.g., symptom and temperature screening) of
employees before they enter the facility, in accordance with state
and local public health authorities and, if available, your occupational health services. Screening and health checks are not a
replacement for other protective measures such as
social
distancing, mask wearing
(unless respirators or
facemasks are
required), and engineering controls, including proper
ventilation. Symptom and temperature screening cannot identify people with SARS-CoV-2 infection who are asymptomatic (do not have
symptoms) or are presymptomatic (have not developed signs or symptoms yet but will later).
For virtual health checks, encourage individuals to
self-screen prior to coming onsite. An electronic monitoring system could be implemented in which, prior to arrival at the facility,
employees report absence of fever and symptoms of COVID-19, absence of a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the prior 10 days, confirm
they have not been exposed to others with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the prior 14 days, and confirm they are not undergoing evaluation for
SARS-CoV-2 infection such as pending viral
test (nucleic acid amplification test or
antigen
test).
For in-person health checks, conduct them safely and
respectfully and in a way that maintains social
distancing of workers in and entering the screening area. Workers should not enter the worksite past the screening area if any of the
following are present:
- Symptoms of COVID-19
- Fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (oF)
or higher or report feeling feverish
- Undergoing evaluation for SARS-CoV-2 infection (such as pending
viral
test)
- Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the prior 10 days
- Close contact to someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the prior 14 days
Follow guidance from the
Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission regarding
confidentiality of medical records from health checks. To prevent stigma and discrimination in the workplace, make employee health
screenings as private as possible. Do not make determinations of risk based on race or country of origin and be sure to maintain
confidentiality of each individual's medical status and history.
Ensure personnel performing in-person screening activities are appropriately protected against exposure to potentially infectious workers
entering the facility. Methods known to reduce risk of transmission include
social
distancing, physical barriers, and mask wearing.
If social distance or barrier controls cannot be implemented during screening, personal protective equipment (PPE) can be used when the
screener is within 6 feet of an employee. However, reliance on PPE alone is a less effective control and may be more difficult to implement
given PPE shortages and training requirements. Ensure screeners are trained on proper use and reading of thermometers per manufacturer
standards; improper calibration and use can lead to incorrect temperature readings.
Separate sick employees
- Employees who appear to have symptoms upon
arrival at work or who become sick during the day should immediately be separated from other employees, customers, and visitors, and
sent home.
- Have a procedure in place for the safe transport of an employee who becomes
sick while at work. The employee may need to be transported home or to a healthcare provider.
Take action if an employee is suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19
In most cases, you do not need to shut down your facility. If it has been less than 7 days since the sick employee has been in the
facility, close off any areas used for prolonged periods of time by the sick person:
- Wait 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting to minimize potential for
other employees being exposed to respiratory droplets. If waiting 24 hours is not feasible, wait as long as possible.
- During this waiting period, open outside doors and windows to increase air
circulation in these areas.
If it has been 7
days or more since the sick employee used the facility, additional cleaning and disinfection are not necessary. Continue
routinely cleaning and disinfecting all high-touch surfaces in the facility.
Follow the CDC cleaning
and disinfection recommendations:
- Clean dirty surfaces with soap and water before disinfecting them.
- To
disinfect
surfaces,
use products
that meet EPA criteria for use against SARS-Cov-2,
the virus that causes COVID-19, and are appropriate for the surface.
- Always wear gloves and gowns appropriate for the chemicals being used when
you are cleaning and disinfecting
- Ensure there is adequate ventilation when using cleaning and disinfection
products to prevent from inhaling toxic vapors.
- You may need to wear additional PPE depending on the setting and disinfectant
product you are using. For each product you use, consult and follow the manufacturer's instructions for use.
Determine which employees may have been exposed to the virus and may need to take additional precautions:
- Employers have an obligation to manage the potentially exposed workers'
return to work in ways that best protect the health of those workers, their co-workers, and the general public.
- Inform employees of their possible
close
contact (within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period) with
someone with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection in the workplace, but maintain confidentiality as required by the
Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Most workplaces should follow the Public
Health Recommendations for Community-Related Exposure. The most protective approach for the workplace is for exposed employees
(close contacts) to quarantine for
14 days, telework if possible, and self-monitor for symptoms.
This approach maximally reduces post-quarantine transmission risk and is the strategy with the greatest collective experience at
present.
- Although CDC continues to recommend a 14-day quarantine, options are provided
for shorter quarantine that
may end after day 7 or after day 10 based on certain conditions. Alternatives to the 14-day quarantine are described in the
Options
to Reduce Quarantine for Contacts of Persons with SARS-CoV-2 Infection Using Symptom Monitoring and Diagnostic Testing. Shortening
quarantine may increase willingness to adhere to public health recommendations. However, shortened quarantine may be less effective in
preventing transmission
of COVID-19 than the currently recommended 14-day
quarantine.
- Workplaces could consider these quarantine alternatives as measures to
mitigate staffing shortages, but they are not the preferred options to mitigate staffing shortages. Workplaces should understand that
shortening the duration of quarantine might pose additional transmission risk. Employers should also consider workplace characteristics
when considering if this additional transmission risk is acceptable (e.g., level of community transmission, ability to maintain social
distancing, proportion of employees at increased
risk for severe illness, and priority for continuity of operations). Employers should counsel workers about the need to monitor for
symptoms and immediately self-isolate if symptoms occur during the 14 days after their exposure and the importance of consistent
adherence to all recommended mitigation strategies (e.g.,
mask
wearing, social
distancing, hand
hygiene, cleaning
and disinfection, and proper
ventilation).
- Implementation of
testing
strategies can supplement measures to reduce transmission in the workplace. Repeated testing over time, also referred
to as serial testing, may be more likely to detect infection among workers with exposures than testing done at a single point in time.
- Critical infrastructure workplaces
should follow COVID-19
Critical Infrastructure Sector Response Planning and guidance on
Testing
Strategy for Coronavirus (COVID-19) in High-Density Critical Infrastructure Workplaces after a COVID-19 Case is Identified.
Educate employees about steps they can take to protect themselves at work
and at home
- Encourage employees to follow any new policies or procedures related to
illness, cleaning and disinfecting, and work meetings and travel.
- Advise employees to:
- Stay home if they are sick, except to get medical care, and to learn
what
to do if they are sick.
- Inform their supervisor if they have a sick household member at home with
COVID-19 and to learn what to do
if
someone in their home is sick.
- Wear a mask when
out in public and when around people who do not live in their household, especially when other
social
distancing measures are difficult to maintain. Masks should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who
has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.
- Wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or to use
hand
sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available. Inform employees that if their hands are
visibly dirty, they should use soap and water instead of hand sanitizer. Key times for employees to clean their hands include:
- Before and after work shifts
- Before and after work breaks
- After blowing their nose, coughing, or sneezing
- After using the restroom
- Before eating or preparing food
- After putting on, touching, or removing cloth face coverings
- Avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use
the inside of their elbow. Throw used tissues into no-touch trash cans and immediately wash hands with soap and water for at least
20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use
hand
sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol. Learn more about
coughing
and sneezing etiquette on the CDC website.
- Practice routine cleaning
and disinfection of frequently touched objects and surfaces such as workstations, keyboards, telephones, handrails,
and doorknobs. Dirty surfaces can be cleaned with soap and water prior to disinfection. To disinfect, use
products
that meet EPA's criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2,
the cause of COVID-19, and are appropriate for the surface.
- Avoid using other employees' phones, desks, offices, or other work tools
and equipment, when possible. Clean and disinfect them before and after use.
- Practice social
distancing by avoiding large
gatherings and maintaining distance (at least 6 feet) from others when possible.
For employees who commute to work using public transportation or ride
sharing, consider offering the following support
- If feasible, offer employees incentives to use forms of transportation that
minimize close contact with others (e.g., biking, walking, driving or riding by car either alone or with household members).
- Ask employees to follow the CDC guidance on how to
protect
yourself when using transportation.
- Allow employees to shift their hours so they can commute during less busy
times.
- Ask employees to clean
their hands as soon as possible after their trip.
Resources for more information:
Other Federal Agencies
