Safety in the workplace tops many companies’ priority lists for 2021. In following the CDC’s COVID-19 workplace guidelines, you will need to enable social distancing while also keeping your workplace as free of germs as possible. One challenge is how to handle visitors coming to your business, including vendors, deliveries, clients, contractors or job applicants. There are several actions you can take in your business to welcome visitors safely.
1.Create or Update Your Visitor Policy
Your company may already have a visitor policy describing who may visit, when and under what circumstances. The start of the new year is a good time to reevaluate it, although you may need to make this an ongoing process as infection rates fluctuate. Your plan will be unique to your business. The CDC says, in their COVID-19 workplace guidelines, “Employers should respond in a way that takes into account the level of disease transmission in their communities and revise their business response plans as needed.”
2.Establish a screening protocol
Screening for COVID-19 can take many forms, depending on what is practical and necessary for your workplace. A healthcare facility likely needs more stringent protocols than a small, private office, for instance. Your municipality or state may issue specific screening guidelines, so check on those. Requirements range from symptom questionnaires to temperature checks by a person wearing PPE.
3.Share protocols beforehand
The CDC recommends informing visitors about procedures you have in place to help control the spread of COVID-19. Clearly state your visitor policy in an easy-to-find location on your website and business social media accounts and send it to scheduled visitors in advance, through email or text message. You can also post signs near the entrance, especially if you require face coverings before entering. Make sure your whole team is educated and aware of the protocols, so that they can answer questions they might get.
4.Retain visitor details for contact tracing
Contact tracing is a process to identify, monitor, and support people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 in order to reduce further spread. The CDC encourages businesses to engage in contact tracing, in collaboration with local health departments, stating it can reduce the need for business closures. If someone with a diagnosed and reported case of COVID-19 has been in close contact with your employees, your local health department should notify you. They may ask you to provide names of people who had close contact with the infected person and/or to host a site visit to observe the workplace and make safety recommendations. It’s a good idea to keep a sign-in sheet for visitors (which could be maintained by a dedicated member of your team to avoid multiple people touching it), along with dates and times of visits.
5.Engage a professional commercial cleaning company to clean and disinfect your workplace
One of the most important things you can do to ensure a safer, healthier workplace is to engage the services of a professional commercial cleaning company trained in correct protocols as recommended by the CDC and AORN.
In their publication, Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, the Department of Health & Human Services says to maintain “routine cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, equipment, and other elements of the work environment.” They also specify the use of EPA-approved disinfectants labeled to kill viral pathogens.
Commercial cleaning and disinfecting should take place on a regular schedule, at intervals that a cleaning professional recommends. Limiting the spread of illnesses in the workplace will benefit not only you and your employees, but any visitors as well.