CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

The pre-screening questionnaire is as follows:

Do you currently have any symptoms of Covid-19? Fever, cough, difficulty breathing? Have you been exposed to anyone with Covid-19 OR traveled outside the U.S. in the past 14 days?

Organization Commitment

This company policy includes the measures we are actively taking to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus. The team at Living Well Family Care is committed to providing a healthy and safe workplace for all employees, patients and visitors. It is important that we all respond responsibly and transparently to these health precautions. In compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines, we are committed to treat our patient’s private health information with high confidentiality and sensitivity.

Scope

This Coronavirus policy applies to all of our employees who physically work in our offices.

Resources

The workplace will make available the necessary resources (i.e. people, personal protective equipment (PPE) and facilities) in order to:

• Comply with all relevant workplace health and safety legislation.
• Ensure the health and safety of employees and patients.

Policy Priorities

The workplace will conduct their activities and provide a work environment that:

• Protects the health, safety and welfare of all persons, including staff, contractors and visitors, affected by our workplace activities.
• Actively encourages controlling risk in workplace activities.
• Strives for continuous improvement in workplace health and safety.

The workplace will address risk management as a priority. Workplace health and safety is both an individual and shared responsibility of all personnel working at Living Well Family Care. The following responsibilities are essential to the success of the policy and are in accordance with OSHA and CDC guidelines.

Responsibilities and Policy Elements

Below, we outline the required actions employees should take to protect patients, coworkers and themselves from a potential Coronavirus infection.

Social Distancing Policy

• Social distancing means avoiding large gatherings and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible (e.g. lobby, post op waiting lounge).
• Services will be delivered remotely when possible.

Respiratory Etiquette and Hand Hygiene Policy for Employees, Patients, and Visitors

• CDC’s 5 Steps of Handwashing

1. Wet hands with clean running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap and apply soap.
2. Lather hands by rubbing them together with soap. Lather the backs of hands, between fingers and under the nails.
3. Scrub hands for at least 20 seconds. Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
4. Rinse hands under clean, running water.
5. Dry hands using a clean paper towel or air dry them.

• Encourage providers and patients to sneeze and cough into their elbow or into a tissue. Hands must be washed with soap and water for 20 seconds immediately after coughing or sneezing.
• Provide tissue and no-touch disposal receptacles.
• At checkout, patients will be taken to the front of the reception area. Reception will input the patients credit card information and then have the patient insert their own card into the terminal. No signing of credit card slips will be necessary. If patients must use a pen for paperwork, we will instruct the patient to keep the pen.

Routine Environmental Cleaning Policy

• Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace using disinfectant wipes/solution, such as work stations, keyboards, telephones, iPads, pens, countertops, etc.
• High-touch surfaces such as doorknobs, countertops, drawer/cabinet handles, seating, supply receptacles, Mayo stands, faucet levers and spout must be cleaned using disinfectant after every patient.

Reduce Transmission Among Employees

• Each working day all employees will have their temperature taken upon arrival to work.
• Employees who have symptoms (i.e. fever, cough, anosmia, GI symptoms, or shortness of breath) should notify their supervisor and stay home.
• Offer facemasks to ill employees and customers to contain respiratory secretions until they are able leave the workplace (i.e., for medical evaluation/care or to return home). In the event of a shortage of masks, a reusable face shield that can be decontaminated may be an acceptable method of protecting against droplet transmission.
• 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). The fellow employees should then self-monitor for symptoms (fever, cough, or shortness of breath).
• Sick employees should not return to work until the criteria to discontinue home isolation are met in consultation with their HCP and state and local health departments.
• Employees who are well but have a sick family member at home with COVID-19 should notify their supervisor and stay home until they are cleared by their HCP and state/local health department to return to work.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Medium exposure risk jobs include those that require frequent and/or close contact with (i.e., within 6 feet of) people who may be infected with SARS-CoV-2, but who are not known or suspected COVID-19 patients. In areas without ongoing community transmission, workers in this risk group may have frequent contact with travelers who may return from international locations with widespread COVID-19 transmission. In areas where there is ongoing community transmission, workers in this category may have contact be with the general public (e.g., in schools, high-population-density work environments, and some high-volume retail settings). (OSHA, 2020)

When selecting PPE, consider factors such as function, fit, decontamination ability, disposal, and cost. Sometimes, when PPE will have to be used repeatedly for a long period of time, a more expensive and durable type of PPE may be less expensive overall than disposable PPE. Each employer should select the combination of PPE that protects workers specific to their workplace. Workers with medium exposure risk may need to wear some combination of gloves, a gown, a face mask, and/or a face shield or goggles. PPE ensembles for workers in the medium exposure risk category will vary by work task, the results of the employer’s hazard assessment, and the types of exposures workers have on the job (OSHA, 2020).

• Universal Masking Policy:
  • Anyone visiting our offices is required to wear a mask.
• Proper Mask Use:
  • The mask should be worn all the way on so that it covers your nose and mouth.
  • Do not wear your mask under your chin, below your nose, or in other positions such as dangling around your neck.
  • When completely off, store the mask in a breathable paper bag labeled with your name.
  • Avoid touching the front of the mask when removing it from the breathable bag.
  • Do not reuse the breathable bag, this should be disposed of each shift.
  • Do not place mask in your pocket as this increases risk for cross contamination.
  • Avoid touching your mask to reduce contamination of the mask and your environment.
  • If you need to touch or adjust your mask for any reason, please perform hand hygiene before and after.
  • Remove and dispose of the mask once it is moist (e.g. from the humidity in your breath) and when the mask becomes soiled, damaged or difficult to breathe through.

Return to Work Following COVID-19 Exposure or Infection

The office of Living Well Family Care may allow healthcare personnel (HCP) or facility staff who have been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 to work if all of the following conditions are met:

1. HCP who have been contacts to confirmed or suspected cases are asymptomatic.
2. HCP who are asymptomatic contacts of confirmed or suspected cases should self- 
monitor twice a day (i.e. temperature, symptoms), and undergo temperature monitoring and symptom checks at the beginning of each shift.
3. HCP who are asymptomatic contacts of confirmed or suspected cases should wear a facemask while working, until 14 days after the last high-risk exposure.
4. HCP allowed to return to work under these conditions should maintain self-quarantine when not at work.
5. If the HCP working under these aforementioned conditions develops symptoms consistent with COVID-19, they should immediately stop work and isolate at home. Testing should be prioritized for health care workers. HFPS will coordinate testing if warranted. All staff with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should be managed as if they have this infection regardless of the availability of test results.

HCP or facility staff with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, can stop home isolation and return to work under the following conditions:

• If you have not been tested to determine if you’re still contagious, you are able to return to work if you meet the ALL of the following criteria:
  • No fever for at least 72 hours (without the use of fever reducers).
  • Asymptomatic; other symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath have improved. (*Staff who are recovering from COVID-19 should wear a facemask while working until 14 days after onset of symptoms).
  • At least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
• If you have been tested to determine if you’re still contagious, you are able to return to work if you meet the ALL of the following criteria:
  • No fever for at least 72 hours (without the use of fever reducers).
    • Asymptomatic; other symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath have improved. (*Staff who are recovering from COVID-19 should wear a facemask while working until 14 days after onset of symptoms).
    • You received 2 negative tests in a row, taken 24 hours apart.

Resources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Interim guidance for businesses and employers. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html

Occupational Safety and Health Act [OSHA], (2020). Guidance on preparing workplaces for COVID-19. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf

World Health Organization, (2020). Getting your workplace ready for COVID-19. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/getting-workplace-ready-for-covid-19.pdf