Printing companies and other essential manufacturing companies are on the front-lines of fighting this invisible enemy. This (somewhat lengthy) document contains ideas and a framework for planning workplace controls to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 at work.

Basic Controls for Everyone Everywhere during this Pandemic:

• If you have a fever, cough, or breathing issues – There is a possibility you may have COVID-19. Stay home, contact a doctor for advice. If a test for COVID-19 is appropriate, the doctor will advise you on options.
• If a family member or other persons you’ve had close contact with is ill – quarantine yourself for two weeks (unless testing shows they did not have the coronavirus). (Note: The website www.CDC.gov has specific instructions on caretaking an ill person at home)
• Everyone needs to cover all coughs and sneezes (tissue, or shirt (if tissue is not handy)).
• Everyone needs to maintain social distancing of 6 ft or more – especially if you are facing each other and talking.
• Avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes.
• Wash your hands often – especially after handling a tissue, or touching surfaces others may touch.
• Don’t shake hands to greet people, Avoid touching other people and their things.
• Clean/Disinfect commonly touched surfaces often.

Workplace Planning and Training to Minimize COVID-19  impact on Workers & Business:

• Each company needs to assess potential hazards relating to COVID-19, plan controls to minimize exposures to employees, communicate and implement the controls.
• All workers need to be trained on the items above (Basic Controls for Everyone), plus specifics applicable for your company.

Workplace Hazard Assessment for Potential Virus Contagion Risk:

• List frequently touched items / surfaces in the facility
• List cleaners, wipes, various PPE and any other items that need to be available in-house during the pandemic
• List visitor types that may come to the facility
• List places where people typically congregate and small spaces people share (pre-pandemic)
• List any employee excursions expected from the plant (sales calls, deliveries, etc)
• List any out of town travel that may be needed.

If someone begins having symptoms while at work:

• Let a supervisor know you have symptoms (pack-up personal items to leave)
• The supervisor should direct you to an area isolated away from employees
• If available, the sick employee should be given a mask (such as a N95)
• The supervisor will have someone cordon off the employee’s workstation (until it is disinfected later on).
• A company should interview the sick person (from a distance, perhaps with a face shield on) to discuss transportation options (family member pick-up, drive self, etc).
• A worker in this situation will want to know their pay situation. Have a handout summary (or HR person available to clarify options/policy).
• Most of the virus on surfaces dies after 6 days. The workstation area must still be disinfected prior to others working in the area. A person sanitizing the work area should wear appropriate PPE. Usually PPE for this situation would include rubber gloves, disposable apron, and a face-shield (in case of splatter), possibly mask if available. All absorbents should be bagged for disposal (regular landfill waste).

Controls to Prevent Virus Contagion: Surfaces that may need routine Cleaning/Disinfecting:

• Main entrance (main door, lobby furniture, counters, sign-in clip board,…)
• Employee entrances (door edge/knobs, hand wash dispensers/table, time clock,….)
• Dock entrance / Trucker areas (restroom, any desk used, water fountain, etc)
• General restroom surfaces (handles on sinks, toilet/urinal, toilet lid and seat, any handles on wipe dispensers, sinks edges/counter top, …)
• Janitorial items to clean between uses (mops/handles, mop buckets, re-usable rags, sinks, drain areas, re-usable face-shields, safety glasses)
• General Public Surfaces (handrails, counter tops, break tables, coffee machine, microwaves, refrigerator handle/door, drink/food vending machines, light switches, …)
• Office Areas (copier machine controls/lid lift areas, hole punches, staplers, keyboards, computer on/off buttons, desk surfaces, phones, mail slots, tablets/touch screens, …)
• Plant Machine Centers (machine controls, stop & stop-safe buttons, handles on interlocked guards, drawer handles, portable lights, …)
• Hand Tools /shop tools (saws, drills, broom handles, screw drivers, drill press, press blanket wrenches…)
• Powered Industrial Trucks (electric jack controls, fork steering wheel, park brake handle, horn button, light switch seatbelt grip, hand-held UPC readers, ….)
• Personal items (cell phone, coffee mug, keys, employee badge, …)

Controls to Prevent Virus Contagion: Engineering Controls

• Barriers (mounting plexi-glass or poly sheets between workers that are in close proximity, close machines, maybe at break tables, or area for truckers, …). A simple clear barrier can block tiny emitted droplets from coughs, sneezes and conversation.
• Moving machines (that were close to each other) further apart (to allow for 6 foot worker distancing.
• Find ways to have some work done at home (laptops / remote log-in process for admin work, delivery/pickup/ hrs/count monitoring for handwork, …)
• Set-up a company account to allow workers to hold meetings on-line/remotely (such as Zoom or GoToMeeting account). 
• Consider upgrading to motion sensor activated disposable paper towel dispensers and restroom light switches. (Note: Wipes are a little more effective than blowers for hand washing germs).
• Consider adding a new sink in any area with many employees and no sink currently (so employees can hand wash often without leaving the area and impacting productivity).
• If the break room is too cramped, consider expanding the break area to additional space, or patio. This would involve moving chairs, and perhaps a tent cover.

Controls to Prevent Virus Contagion: Administrative Controls

• Conduct floor audits/gemba walks to ensure handwork personnel are spaced 6 feet apart, and tables are spaced appropriately. Intervene when people are congregating or standing too close for a conversation.
• Put tape markings on the floor / or table surface, to reinforce / remind worker of social distancing instructions.
• If customer orders slow and less man-hours are needed, consider not having everyone in the plant at once (such as morning shift and afternoon shift or crew A days and crew B days).
• Shrink or eliminate in-person meetings and social chat gatherings. Use social distancing during in-person meetings (such as production meeting, scheduling, sales, …)
• Plan and communicate processes for safely dealing with non-company personnel (visitors, receiving deliveries, shipping, delivering product, repair vendor, safety consultant …).
• Limit employee roaming to only areas needed to perform their work.
• Ask temp companies to send the same people each day, or discontinue temps if business is slow.
• Posting simple signs, advising visitors of requirements to use hand-wipe with each entry and areas they must remain in.
• Post general signage reminding employees of hygiene practices (such as “If you need to cough or sneeze, walk away from people use a wipe or your sleeve (not your hands), wash afterwards”
• If the patio is too cramped, consider staggering meal times to minimize the number of people in the break room at any one time (allowing improved social distancing). Perhaps encourage people to use the room for cooking only and eating in a more spacious area.
• Consider reserving the meal area with the greatest social distancing set-up for more vulernable employees (older than 55, and/or other health complexities).

Return to Work Program: After close Exposure or Having the Coronavirus

• Typically up to 30% never realize they have contracted the virus (and yet are contagious).
• 56% don’t begin having symptoms for around 5 days after catching the virus (but are contagious after first contracting the virus after a day or two). They typically are over the symptoms around the 6^th day of symptoms (unless they are part of the 14% that end-up needing a lengthy hospital stay). After getting over symptoms, they may still test positive for many days after symptoms are gone (but possibly are not shedding virus as much as prior and during symptoms).
• Note that typically all family members in a household eventually contract the virus, once one person has it. Therefore, self-quarantine is very important in this case.
• The current recommendation is for 14 days of quarantine after symptoms are gone from yourself or your family member.
• However, the President has mentioned that the government is researching whether they should allow return to work within a week after symptoms are gone -with a N95 mask on at all times. If this becomes standard, there likely would be special employer requirements for communications, maintaining spacing from others, supplying the masks, and surface cleaning. 
• If a person goes out sick, and is tested for the virus and they did not have it, return to work likely would be allowed after symptoms and fever are gone (with some sort Doctor clearance – not sure how this works with HIPPA).

PPE Controls: Personal Protective Equipment (when engineering and administrative controls are not enough)

• Rubber gloves (for cleaning surfaces, cleaning where a sick person was, handling materials (clothes, rags, tools, controls, keyboards, …) touched by a potentially infected person.
• Face shield (for wiping, cleaning surfaces that a person suspected of being ill has touched or coughed on, interviewing a sick employee in an isolated area trying to arrange for transport home, …)
• Masks (N95 is best, however, medical , dust, or cloth mask may be helpful in some situations –must be fresh/clean). Any ill person needs to wear a mask when leaving the workplace (and during transport home). Anyone in close contact (hopefully no-one) with an ill person.
• Apron (such as disposable plastic). Potential uses (Cleaning in rest rooms, cleaning /disinfecting where a sick person was, handling sick person’s items, …)

 Other related items to keep in Stock (Purchasing)

• Regular Hand Soaps (for liquid dispensers, portable bottles near sinks, or plastic tubs).
• Hand cleaner/disinfectant in bulk (large bottle or free standing foam touchless machines at entrance, lunch room). Should have 60-80% isopropyl alcohol)
• Hand cleaner/disinfectant in small bottles (for workstations and maintenance toolboxes)
• Cleaner / disinfectant (in fairly high volume)for Surfaces (Usually bleach based, or 60-80% isopropyl alcohol. Do not mix cleaners. EPA has a list of cleaners that tested effective with viruses. Note any needed precautions if flammable)
• Non-woven wipes with disinfectant (for occasional use by operators during the shift).
• Paper towels for restroom dispensers, break room table, wiping surfaces (consider the current (temporary) toilet paper shortage as well)
• Reusable cloth or woven wipes for disinfecting surfaces
• Tissues/Kleenex-style (Stage throughout plant during this era)
• Plastic trash bags (You may want to consider lining some smaller cans (in addition to the all the large trash cans, that were not previously bagged).

Disclaimer: This document was created to help client companies consider various approaches to making their workplaces safer during the 2020 pandemic. Knowledge on this subject is changing daily. Some of this content may be erroneous – If so, this is not intentional.