Author: Mario Borras

What To Do if an Active Employee Has Been Diagnosed with COVID-19 in Your Office?

If a Philadelphia business is to remain open during an outbreak, it is important that preventative measures such as social distancing, deep cleaning, and sanitizing of high contact surfaces are taken to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure. Simple steps can make a big difference in the workplace.

What if an employee tests positive? Sometimes, despite a person’s best efforts to protect oneself from exposure, he or she may fall ill to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. A positive diagnosis can be stressful for the employee and a rather serious concern for the employer.

The testing lab usually notifies the management of the positive case of COVID-19 . From then on, it’s up to the facility manager to conduct contact tracing.

What happens if the individual was at work while contagious? Management then needs to determine if the worker poses any additional risk to the workplace. Not all cases result in exposures. A transient interaction such as walking past someone who tested positive for Covid-19 doesn’t necessarily pose a threat.

Time is of the essence and the employer needs to confirm any close contacts in order to contain the spread. Any other measures need to be taken to reduce the risk of transmission. It can be very stressful for a person to be diagnosed with COVID-19. And this is why Philadelphia employers must treat the employee in a respectful manner while ensuring that the virus is contained.

 Many businesses in the state quickly shifted to remote work, where possible, and abandoned operations in an office setting when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Now, as these enterprises consider resuming operations, there’s a lot of things to consider.

Plans and procedures must be in place before reopening. An infectious disease preparedness and response plan is especially important. The next step is to determine the need for reopening, including what functions should resume and what personnel is necessary.

Timing is everything. Local enterprises must be careful not to return people to the office space too soon, as there are legal as well as practical risks such as workforce contamination.

It’s crucial at this point to work with a commercial cleaning company to determine any modifications to enhance sanitary conditions, especially in the building entrances, particularly the elevators. A professional and experienced sanitation crew will consider examining matters such as building ventilation, temperature control, humidity, and other factors relating to the HVAC system, especially when it comes to the restrooms. This is to make sure that the virus is eliminated from the facility.

A good professional cleaning company will need to know points of entrance in order to guarantee that employees have the proper sanitation tools when they come in. It might even be necessary to eliminate or reduce seats in the reception area and add a Plexiglas to protect the receptionist.

Good commercial cleaning companies can provide many useful recommendations to frequently clean and maintain the areas during the workday. Adding a porter service to a commercial cleaning plan is a smart thing to do. Porter services can provide face coverings, temperature checks or disinfectant and hand sanitizer as guests enter the facility.

It’s also up to management to determine whether to allow access to the lunchroom and if access is permitted, how to limit access so that there is social distancing. Having an attendant from the commercial cleaning company to monitor compliance with rules and to assist as needed would be an excellent move. It would also be prudent to have a cleaning company that determines how frequently to clean and maintain the areas during the workday as well as to conduct deep cleaning operations as needed.

Having a janitorial services team is also a prudent option. They can provide excellent ideas on how to limit the number of people who may be in a restroom. They also have a lot of experience and expertise in determining just how frequently to clean and maintain the areas during the workday.

In these challenging times, a smart business will make sure that its office sanitation and commercial cleaning team knows how to follow sanitation procedures to keep COVID-19 at bay. Common areas such as copiers, scanners, and other equipment can harbor a lot of bacteria. These areas need to be periodically cleaned as well as sanitized. The same can be said for meeting spaces and conference rooms in the building.

Now, more than ever, door handles, appliances, counter-tops, etc. are breeding grounds for bacteria. These common areas are the prime spaces for contamination. Not taking the proper precautions to encourage sanitary procedures may have dire consequences for the business. Not following the proper procedures can cause a business to be fined or even closed. Experts in the cleaning industry can help maintain a business clean, sanitized, and ready for business as usual. At the same time, they know all the tricks of the trade with the proper machinery such as  fogging or electrostatic spraying  to maintain a facility COVID free. There’s never a better time to lean on them for advice as well as assistance as now.