Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based upon material published by the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration and is in the public domain. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. For administrators and supervisors [employers] who have already planned for influenza pandemics, planning for COVID-19 may involve updating plans to address the specific exposure risks, sources of exposure, routes of transmission, and other unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., compared to pandemic influenza viruses). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) developed this COVID-19 planning guidance based on traditional infection prevention and industrial hygiene practices. It focuses on the need for administrators and supervisors to implement engineering, administrative, and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as considerations for doing so. This guidance is intended for planning purposes. Administrators, supervisors and workers should use this planning guidance to help identify risk levels in workplace settings and to determine any appropriate control measures to implement. Additional guidance may be needed as COVID-19 outbreak conditions change, including as new information about the virus, its transmission, and impacts, becomes available. Authors: US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Learning Objectives: This course will provide administrators and supervisors with detailed information regarding planning workplace policies for COVID-19 and other infectious epidemics. Specifically, a professional will: Describe how COVID-19 or other infectious epidemics could affect the workplace. Define steps administrators and supervisors can take to reduce exposure for their workers. Distinguish between lower, medium and higher exposure risk jobs Citation: US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (2020). Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19