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By Heather Shoemaker and Marianne Payne

What to consider when responding to the Coronavirus


SARS-CoV-2, commonly known as Coronavirus, has brought us one of the greatest challenges we could have foreseen in industry. Our lives across the country have had to adapt on the fly, managing day-to-day operations as normal in a not so normal world. Unless you are running a medical facility, your emergency plans likely did not prepare you for a global pandemic. This article explores the workplace practices that essential business companies are employing to keep their employees safe and discusses how facilities can effectively direct a cleaning process.The reality is that many of our members are running facilities that are considered essential with employees that cannot perform their job remotely. So how are you coping? Many employers have created internal pandemic teams to manage the company’s response. Most companies have put practices in place to ensure the health and well-being of their workers during this crisis. Typical work practices include social distancing to the extent possible (use of portable office trailers, staggering workers in an assembly line, use of visual cues to maintain 6-foot separation, employee tracking, making personal protective equipment available when separation is not possible, and eating in vehicles), taking the temperature of each employee upon entering the workplace, directing employees to notify their supervisor and to self-quarantine for 14 days if they show signs of illness, and aggressive cleaning strategies. Additionally, companies have developed policies that outline the steps to be taken if a worker appears to be symptomatic for Coronavirus, and policies that outline the steps to be taken if a worker tests positive for Coronavirus.What if someone who has been in your workplace tests positive for Coronavirus? This could be an employee or an outside party such as a delivery person who has to enter your facility to deliver their goods. This would likely initiate the need to thoroughly clean the workplace. READ MORE

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