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How to Create a Reopening Plan for Your Business

Do you need to know how to create a reopening plan for your business? If you own or manage a business shut down during the Coronavirus pandemic, preparing to reopen safely for all your employees is a concerning task.

Across the country, states are easing restrictions, even as new cases of COVID-19 infection still occur daily. Taking necessary precautions to protect your workers will mitigate company and employee risk as people return and continue to work.

Use this plan to help guide your decisions, reduce your stress, increase cooperation, and maximize effectiveness in your workplace. Here are some guidelines to help you get started.

Employees need to know their health and safety is your top priority. When you create a reopening plan, have your organization’s owner, CEO, or main authority figure write a short, powerful statement expressing that your company puts its employees’ well-being first. Put this near the start of your document.

Clearly communicate how your plan protects your people. Let them see your concern for their mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Then, take practical steps to support your employees in these areas.

Clearly state who leads this initiative, what could potentially affect the policies in your plan, and which sources you referenced when creating your policies and recommendations. By staying transparent about your sources, you increase credibility and remain accountable for your decisions.

In many larger companies, the Human Resources department can lead such initiatives. Otherwise, a senior member of the management team suits the bill.

Your COVID-19 Reopening Plan must include several key topics and describe how your business will implement them. At a minimum it should include:

What are you trying to accomplish when you create a reopening plan? Clearly state your goal(s) at the beginning of your reopening plan document. Here are a few goals you may consider:

Identify and address any potential concerns about sharing resources with other businesses. If your company shares a building, vehicles, equipment, or other resources with other companies, state how you plan to work together to maximize health and safety while sharing resources. Make sure you and people who share your resources agree on policies to protect workers when you create a reopening plan.

Create a reopening plan before employees return.
Define steps your company will take to prepare the workplace before employees arrive.

Phases of reopening allow your workers to return in a graduated, controlled series of steps. Each phase should include three key pieces of information:

You may add other considerations such as business travel.

In your organization, all employees may not need to return to work at the same time. Also, to follow social distancing guidelines, they may not be allowed. Outline phases of reopening to state when different groups will return. You can structure this in different ways. For example, break it down by department, physical location according to a floor plan, or employee preference. Some companies have broken their employees into teams, with team one entering the location on week one, team two for week two, and so one. This reduces exposure and cuts down on expenses.

What if some employees prefer to return immediately, and others wish to work from home a few extra weeks? Take your business needs and employee needs into consideration as you decide which phases of reopening will work best for your company.

At each phase, indicate whether employee return is optional, encouraged, or mandatory. As you decide whether to require attendance or not, weigh the pros and cons of making someone return before he or she is ready. Compare employees’ performance in the workplace versus telecommuting and look for significant differences.

Choose a schedule that will keep group sizes small according to recommended safety guidelines. Remember, social distancing protects workers from exposure, so stagger shifts or plan rotating schedules to cut down on worker interaction. Consider adding an early or late shift.

If your employees sometimes travel for work, build travel guidelines into your phases of reopening. For example, in Phases 1 and 2 you may want to suspend all business travel. Then, you could resume some travel in Phase 3, but only to select destinations. Base all travel plans on recommendations from the city and state.

Will you require daily health checks when employees arrive at work? When you create a reopening plan, outline the details of any screening procedures you will use. Screening may include a temperature scan, questionnaire, daily sign-in sheet, etc. Work with your HR manager to develop this plan so you do not violate any employee rights with the information you collect. Employers should do the following:

Conduct screening for visitors and employees. Look for:

If Yes, then deny entry to the building. Require an evaluation by a health professional before the employee may to work.

Workers who appear to have symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, or shortness of breath) upon arrival at work or who become sick during the day should immediately be separated from others and sent home as soon as possible.

Sick employees should stay home until all of these occur:

Require return to work authorization for any employee who has tested positive for COVID-19. Sometimes the employee cannot get written authorization from a healthcare provider due to unavailability. If this happens, you may follow CDC guidelines to verify the employee has been quarantined past the incubation period and is symptom-free. Decide if you will require negative COVID-19 tests.

Create an isolation area where people can sit if they suddenly feel ill at work and cannot go home right away. Give it an inviting name, such as the Wellness Room, and outfit it with seating you can sanitize after use. In addition, provide tissues, waste baskets, and hand sanitizer. Encourage employees to use this room if they do not feel well and create special cleaning procedures for this room.

When you create a reopening plan, make detailed policies about what employees should do if they get sick. Require employees to notify the company if they (or anyone in their household) experience any symptoms or test positive for COVID-19. Then, do not allow them to return to work until cleared by a healthcare professional. Post clear guidelines about how to report illness.

Create informative posters to hang in common areas at work. Posters should contain information such as:

Everyone in your organization needs to know what to do, so make it very clear. Also, post all federal and state laws pertaining to the FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus Response Act).

Decide which phases in your plan will include social distancing when you create a reopening plan. Then, create specific strategies for each phase to maintain social distancing in the workplace. For instance, install plexiglass shields between workstations on an assembly line, space desks further apart, or move tables further apart in the break room. Consider creating small teams per department that will report for work on certain days. The teams could rotate schedules to have different teams in the space at different times.

Employers should do the following to promote social distancing:

Employers should do the following:

Decide how you will conduct internal meetings safely. Include these guidelines in your plan.

Employers should do the following:

Post hygiene rules in common areas such as restrooms and break rooms. Outline any expectations about hand washing procedures, touching one’s face, disinfecting shared surfaces and equipment after use, sneezing or coughing, and tissue disposal. Provide resources for more information.

Employers should do the following:

When you create a reopening plan, select appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) based on the results of an employer’s hazard assessment and workers’ specific job duties.

Employers should do the following:

If workers need respirators, they must use them in the context of a comprehensive respiratory protection program. OSHA’s Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134) requires medical exams, fit testing, and training.

Surgical masks are not respirators and do not provide the same level of protection to workers as properly fitted respirators.

Create a Personal Protective Equipment Hazard Analysis as required by 1910.132(d) for personal protective equipment at work. Decide if you will require employees to wear face masks or any other kind of PPE, then provide details about when, where, and what type. While some companies require face masks throughout the day, others only require them to be worn in common areas, or while employees are mobile.

Will you provide face masks/PPE, or can employees wear their own? Clarify any details about how to wear masks correctly.

In your reopening plan, indicate how you will communicate key information to your workers.

Employers should do the following:

Employers should train workers on the following:

Create a set of common area rules and post signs in all common areas. Include information such as whether face masks are required, whether doors should remain open or shut, and how many people may use the area at the same time.

Outline any cleaning procedures such as wiping down surfaces after use. Indicate spacing for any lines which may form at the coffee station or anywhere people tend to cluster. Create specific rules for any areas where people typically eat or drink.

Most companies are shutting down break rooms, coffee stations, and drinking fountains. Bring in bottled water to reduce cross contamination.

Create a work-from-home policy so employees know what your company expects. You must decide whether requiring employees to enter the workplace rather than working from home matters, and under what circumstances. Outline details about work-from-home requests, equipment, job duties and responsibilities, work ethic, tools and technology, etc.

Does your workplace receive deliveries or frequently employ outside personnel? Decide how to limit exposure to outside personnel, such as designating a specific delivery area or requiring all employees to bring a sack lunch instead of ordering lunch or coffee. If outside personnel must enter the workplace, make sure they follow the same screening procedures you use for employees.

Conclude your reopening plan with a strong call to action. This can be a personal message from the owner, CEO, or any influential leader within the company. Because employees will each view the new rules differently, you must create a unifying sense of purpose. By remaining positive and highlighting the importance of following the plan, you will maximize the positive impact of the reopening plan in your workplace.

As you research best practices for your company’s reopening plan, check out these great resources:

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