Keeping Workplaces Safe: Employer Responsibilities

Employers across the nation are in uncharted territory when it comes to keeping their workplace and its customers safe against an unfamiliar virus in Covid-19. Under the OSH Act of 1970 “the employer shall furnish to each of his employees’ employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees”. Each employer should plan on how to best decrease the spread of Covid-19 and lower the impact in their workplace. The CDC lays out three excellent strategies for accomplishing this goal, with each strategy having a detailed plan of action:

Strategy #1 – Reduce Transmission Among Employees:

Encourage sick employees to stay home:

• Employees who have the symptoms associated with the virus.
• Sick employees should stay home from work and self-isolate and not return to work until the CDC home isolation criteria are met.
• Employees who are well but have been exposed to someone who has been sick should notify their supervisor and follow CDC precautions.
• Be aware that some employees may be at a higher risk for serious illness, such as older adults and those with chronic medical conditions. Consider minimizing face-to-face contact between these employees or assign work tasks that allow them to maintain a distance of six feet from other workers, customers, and visitors, or telework if possible.

Separate Sick Employees:

• Employees who appear to have symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, or shortness of breath) upon arrival at work or who become sick during the day should immediately be separated from other employees, customers, and visitors and sent home.
• If an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19 infection, employers should inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Educate your employees on how they can prevent the spread:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow. Throw used tissues in the trash 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.
• Clean AND disinfect 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. If necessary, clean and disinfect them before and after use.
• Practice social distancing by avoiding large gatherings and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet) from others when possible.

Strategy #2 – Maintain Healthy Business Operations:

Implement flexible sick leave and supportive policies and practices:

• Ensure that sick leave policies are flexible and consistent with public health guidance and that employees are aware of and understand these policies.
• Maintain flexible policies that permit employees to stay home to care for a sick family member or take care of children due to school and childcare closures. Additional flexibilities might include giving advances on future sick leave and allowing employees to donate sick leave to each other.
• Employers that do not currently offer sick leave to some or all of their employees may want to draft non-punitive “emergency sick leave” policies.
• Employers should not require a positive COVID-19 test result or a healthcare provider’s note for employees who are sick to validate their illness, qualify for sick leave, or to return to work. Healthcare provider offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely manner.
• Review human resources policies to make sure that policies and practices are consistent with public health recommendations and are consistent with existing state and federal workplace laws.
• Connect employees to employee assistance program (EAP) resources (if available) and community resources as needed. Employees may need additional social, behavioral, and other services, for example, to cope with the death of a loved one.

Assess your essential functions:

• Be prepared to change your business practices if needed to maintain critical operations (e.g., identify alternative suppliers, prioritize existing customers, or temporarily suspend some of your operations if needed).
• Identify alternate supply chains for critical goods and services. Some good and services may be in higher demand or unavailable.
• 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.
• Talk with business partners about your response plans. Share best practices with other businesses in your communities (especially those in your supply chain), chambers of commerce, and associations to improve community response efforts.

Determine how you will operate if absenteeism spikes:

• Plan to monitor and respond to absenteeism at the workplace.
• Implement plans to continue your essential business functions in case you experience higher than usual absenteeism.
• Prepare to institute flexible workplace and leave policies.
• Cross-train employees to perform essential functions so the workplace can operate even if key employees are absent.

Consider establishing policies and practices for social distancing:

• Implementing flexible worksites (e.g., telework)
• Implementing flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts)
• Increasing physical space between employees at the worksite
• Increasing physical space between employees and customers (e.g., drive through, partitions)
• Implementing flexible meeting and travel options (e.g., postpone non-essential meetings or events)
• Downsizing operations
• Delivering services remotely (e.g. phone, video, or web)
• Delivering products through curbside pick-up or delivery

Strategy #3 – Maintain A Healthy Work Environment:

Consider improving the engineering controls using the buildings ventilation system:

• Increase ventilation rates.
• Increase the percentage of outdoor air that circulates into the system.

Support respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene for employees, customers, and worksite visitors:

• Provide tissues and no-touch disposal receptacles.
• Provide soap and water in the workplace. If soap and water are not readily available, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol. If hands are visibly dirty, soap and water should be chosen over hand sanitizer. Ensure that adequate supplies are maintained.
• Place hand sanitizers in multiple locations to encourage hand hygiene.
• Place posters that encourage hand hygiene to help stop the spread at the entrance to your workplace and in other workplace areas where they are likely to be seen.
• Discourage handshaking – encourage the use of other noncontact methods of greeting.

Take care when attending meetings and gatherings:

• Carefully consider whether travel is necessary.
• Consider using videoconferencing or teleconferencing when possible for work-related meetings and gatherings.
• Consider canceling, adjusting, or postponing large work-related meetings or gatherings that can only occur in-person.
• When videoconferencing or teleconferencing is not possible, hold meetings in open, well-ventilated spaces.