Protecting Your Employees from the Coronavirus

13 Mar Protecting Your Employees from the Coronavirus

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is becoming a greater concern day-to-day for businesses as well as the greater population. Here at SAVA, we always strive to be your trusted insurance partner even during the most uncertain times. In order to help employers plan and respond to COVID-19, the CDC has issued interim guidance, and we would highly suggest that everyone follows their recommendations in order to prevent the spread of the disease as well as to help allow your business to operate as close to normal as possible.

Actively Encourage Sick Employees to Stay Home

If your employees have symptoms of acute respiratory illness, they should stay home and not come to work until they are free of signs of a fever and any other symptoms of COVID-19 for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines. Employees should be instructed to notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick.

Separate Sick Employees

Employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms (e.g., cough or shortness of breath) upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately. Sick employees should cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

Emphasize Hand Hygiene

Instruct employees to clean their hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60%-95% alcohol, or wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.

Perform Routine Environmental Cleaning

Employers and employees should routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, counter-tops, and doorknobs.

Other Preventative Measures:

• Educate your staff on the signs & symptoms of COVID-19 and the precautions that can be taken in order to minimize the risk of contracting the virus, without causing a panic.
• Appoint a single individual or department as the point of contact within your organization for employee questions about COVID-19.
• Review safety programs and emergency action plans to ensure that they include infectious-disease protocols.
• Implement travel guidelines and procedure for approving travel to and from other states.

For the full article of the CDC’s Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fspecific-groups%2Fguidance-business-response.html