St. Louis County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update
Businesses Preparing to Reopen – Employee Perspective
When formulating proactive plans to reopen, the owners/operators of small businesses should consider different perspectives. One viewpoint should focus on the health and well-being of their employees and other internal stakeholders/vendors. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has already created guidance on preparing workplaces for COVID-19. That document includes steps all employers can take to reduce workers’ risk of exposure, identifies levels of risk associated with different professions, work-related travel, and other resources available. It can be found here: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf.
Small businesses have many things to consider, but among them should be:
- Communications to employees returning to work.
- How employees will be screened prior to their shifts.
- A schedule for cleaning/sanitizing in accordance with required protocols.
- Based on capacity limitations, the number of personnel who can be present in one area at any one time.
- A plan for treating common areas to restrict gatherings.
- Where hand sanitizer and Kleenex will be made available to all employees.
- Develop a plan to insure that deliveries of supplies/merchandise are to be safely handled.
Specific guidance from St. Louis County Department of Public Health and the County Executive’s Office is being created and should be available this week. Dr. Sam Page indicated this morning that the re-opening will be “slow, deliberate, and measured.”
Contact Information
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services hotline can be reached at (877)435-8411.
St. Louis County has created a website dedicated to the dissemination of information relating to COVID-19, www.stlcorona.com. Please visit that website or those belonging to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) for the most current and reputable information.