Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response Plan
Develop Policies and Procedures
Develop effective policies and procedures to identify and isolate employees and others who may be infected and showing symptoms.
To isolate workers, send them home.
Policies and procedures include the following:
- Identification: Prompt identification and isolation of potentially infectious individuals is a critical step in protecting workers, customers, visitors, and others at a worksite.
- Self-monitoring: Employers should inform and encourage employees to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 if they suspect possible exposure.
- Reporting symptoms: Employers should develop policies and procedures for employees to report when they are sick or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
- Isolation: Where appropriate, employers should immediately isolate people who have signs and/or symptoms of COVID-19. Move potentially infectious people to a location away from workers, customers, and other visitors to prevent further transmission-particularly in worksites where medical screening, triage, or healthcare activities occur, using either permanent (e.g., wall/different room) or temporary barrier (e.g., plastic sheeting).
- Limiting the spread: Take steps to limit spread of the respiratory secretions of a person who may have COVID-19. Provide a face mask, if feasible and available, and ask the person to wear it, if tolerated. Note: A face mask (also called a surgical mask, procedure mask, or other similar terms) on a patient or other sick person should not be confused with PPE for a worker; the mask acts to contain potentially infectious respiratory secretions at the source (i.e., the person's nose and mouth).
- Restricted entry: Restrict the number of personnel entering isolation areas.
- Exposure controls: Protect workers in close contact with (i.e., within 6 feet) a sick person or who have prolonged/repeated contact with such persons by using additional engineering and administrative controls, safe work practices, and PPE. Workers whose activities involve close or prolonged/ repeated contact with sick people are addressed further in later sections covering workplaces classified at medium and very high or high exposure risk.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-7. What is the best policy if an employee self-identifies and reports symptoms of COVID-19 at work?
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