COVID-19

California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board – Recent Updates

Please Remember:

  1. If you are sick stay at home.
  2. Wash your hands frequently.
  3. Utilize physical distancing (6 ft.)
  4. Wear your face coverings as required
  5. Avoid touching your face, nose, eyes, etc.
  6. Avoid handshakes, a good morning or hello nod of the head, or wave of the hand is a good way to greet your co-workers and clients.
  7. Avoid crowds. Utilize virtual meetings instead of large gatherings.
  8. Hampton Tedder will add additional layers of cleaning to our routine professional service environmental cleaning.
  9. Should you have any questions please go to your supervisor or department executive.

System for Communicating

Employees shall, without fear of reprisal, report to the employer any COVID-19 symptoms, possible exposures, and possible hazards in the workplace.

Accommodations shall be made for any employees with medical or other conditions that put them at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness.

If COVID-19 testing is required, the employer shall inform affected employees of the reason for the testing, and the consequences of a positive test result.

The identification of workplace hazards, and the procedures and policies in the previous sections of the Pandemic Preparedness Program shall be communicated to employees, and adhered to in the workplace. Please review our program can at: https://www.htetraining.com/safetydocs/

Physical Distancing Policy

All employees shall be separated from other persons by at least six feet, except where an employer can demonstrate that six feet of separation is not possible, and except for momentary exposure while persons are in movement. Methods of physical distancing include: telework or other remote work arrangements; reducing the number of persons in an area at one time, including visitors; visual cues such as signs and floor markings to indicate where employees and others should be located or their direction and path of travel; staggered arrival, departure, work, and break times; and adjusted work processes or procedures, such as reducing production speed, to allow greater distance between employees. When it is not possible to maintain a distance of at least six feet, individuals shall be as far apart as possible.          

Facial Covering Policy

Employees who work in the field or at a Hampton Tedder facility (regardless if they regularly telecommute and are visiting the facility for a limited purpose) must use a facial covering that is consistent with the safety requirements for their job.

Based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of non-medical grade masks and other facial coverings may help to reduce the spread of the disease, though they may not protect against acquiring COVID-19.

Employers shall provide face coverings and ensure they are worn by employees over the nose and mouth when indoors, when outdoors and less than six feet away from another person, and where required by orders from the CDPH or local health department. Employers shall ensure face coverings are clean and undamaged. Face shields are not a replacement for face coverings, although they may be worn together for additional protection. The following are exceptions to the face coverings requirement:

1. When an employee is alone in a room.

2. While eating and drinking at the workplace, provided employees are at least six feet apart and outside air supply to the area, if indoors, has been maximized to the extent possible.

3. Employees wearing respiratory protection in accordance with section 5144 or other title 8 safety orders.

4. Employees who cannot wear face coverings due to a medical or mental health condition or disability, or who are hearing-impaired or communicating with a hearing-impaired person.

5. Specific tasks which cannot feasibly be performed with a face covering. This exception is limited to the time period in which such tasks are actually being performed, and the unmasked employee shall be at least six feet away from all other persons unless unmasked employees are tested at least twice weekly for COVID-19.

How to Clean and Disinfect Hard Surfaces

Wear disposable gloves when cleaning and disinfecting surfaces. Gloves should be discarded after each cleaning. If reusable gloves are used, those gloves should be dedicated for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces for COVID-19 and should not be used for other purposes. Consult the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning and disinfection products used. Clean hands immediately after gloves are removed.

If surfaces are dirty, they should be cleaned using a detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection. Equipment and working surfaces shall be cleaned periodically, and after any possible exposure.

Identification and Evaluation of Hazards

  • The employer shall allow for employee and authorized representative participation in the identification and evaluation of COVID-19 workplace hazards.
  • New hire employees shall be screened for symptoms prior to their orientation. During the screening, both the screener and new hire shall properly use face coverings. If a thermometer is used for screening, a non-contact thermometer shall be used.
  • Active employees shall evaluate their own symptoms prior to entering the workplace.
  • In the event that any personnel reports symptoms or possible exposure, the Safety Director Clifford Ryan shall be notified at (909) 247-8253, and an immediate response shall be enacted to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace.
  • The employer shall periodically, as needed, inspect the workplace to identify and mitigate any hazards that could potentially expose employees to COVID-19, and evaluate the effectiveness of any existing prevention controls. This includes any time that employees may be in contact with one another, or with other non-employee individuals in the workplace that they could be in contact with.
  • Employers shall treat all persons, regardless of symptoms or negative COVID-19 test results, as potentially infectious.
  • As feasible, outdoor air shall be used to ventilate indoor workplaces.

Additional Training

There are benefits available under workers’ compensation law, the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Labor Code sections 248.1 and 248.5, Labor Code sections 3212.86 through 3212.88, local governmental requirements, the employer’s own leave policies, and leave guaranteed by contract.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that can be spread through the air when an infectious person talks or vocalizes, sneezes, coughs, or exhales; that COVID-19 may be transmitted when a person touches a contaminated object and then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth, although that is less common; and an infectious person may have no symptoms.

Particles containing the virus can travel more than six feet, especially indoors, so physical distancing must be combined with other controls, including face coverings and hand hygiene, to be effective.

Remember to use hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and use hand sanitizer when employees do not have immediate access to a sink or hand washing facility, and that hand sanitizer does not work if the hands are soiled.

Remember to use your face coverings properly over your mouth and nose. Face covering are not respiratory protective equipment.

DO NOT come to work if you are experiencing symptoms. Stay home and obtain a COVID-19 test.

For more information go to: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html. For older adults and people who have severe underlying chronic medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness, see the CDC recommendations here https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html