Collectively, we all need to ensure we are taking the necessary steps to prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID- 19). Here at Davis & Green, Inc., we are continuing to monitor a wide range of issues associated with the spread of COVID-19. Davis & Green, Inc. is meeting daily to stay on top of recommendations from the appropriate regulatory agencies so that they can be implemented immediately.
We are working with our clients, trade partners and suppliers in order to take all necessary precautions to protect our employees, clients, staff, guests and our client’s customers. Davis & Green, Inc.’s policy is to always provide a safe place to work and to conduct all operations in a manner as to provide protection for all individuals who might encounter these operations, as well as any of our client’s requirements.
This interim guidance is based on what is currently known about the COVID-19 disease. The information and guidance were obtained by the Centers of Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health (DOH). As this issue progresses or recedes, we will update this guidance. This guidance is being implemented by Davis & Green, Inc. on a company-wide basis and our expectation is that all business partners will implement measures at least as protective as those outlined in this interim guidance. Please follow all direction given by the CDC, DOH and Local, State and Federal Agencies.
Davis & Green, Inc.’s Required Strategies & Procedures:
Office Building Requirements:
As decontaminating the workspace is crucial to help stop the spread of the virus, the following steps shall be taken in this regard. Davis & Green supervisors at all levels are to remind employees of these precautions and policies as needed.
- Davis & Green shall have its office professionally cleaned weekly and routine cleaning shall be done twice daily.
- Commonly touched surfaces and tools should be disinfected using cleaning agents commonly used for the task, following the directions provided with the cleaning product.
- Employees are to clean their hands often with alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60-95% alcohol or wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Hand wipes and sanitizer will be provided as supplies become available.
- All employees are to follow proper respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene including coughing/sneezing into tissues or if not available into your elbow or shoulder.
- Field employees are restricted from coming to the office unless absolutely necessary.
- Face to face meetings are to be avoided. Communication shall be conducted over the phone, internet or email whenever possible.
- If material is to be picked up during normal business hours, field staff are to contact the shipper/receiver, who will bring material to the loading dock door for the employee to pick up.
- If office materials must be picked up, field staff are to coordinate with their Project Manager or Assistant Project Manager to do so in the parking lot.
Office & Off-Site Jobsite Requirements
Social Distancing Requirements Must Be Met
Social distancing (maintaining at least six-foot social distance from other individuals) is a requirement at Davis & Green, Inc. Special attention shall be made to limit the number of individuals in close contact or in small, confined spaces so that the maximum amount of space between individuals can be maintained. Davis & Green, Inc. will:
- Limit the number of people traveling in buck hoists at one time so that social distancing can be maintained.
- Ensure that no more than two workers allowed in any single room at a given time. No more than one worker is allowed in the typical 10’x10’ offices.
- Ensure that no more than ten workers are allowed in a single area of the building at a given time. Areas are generally defined by natural geographic borders within the site or any area that is less than 400SF in size.
- Ensure that break and lunch times shall be staggered on site to prevent all workers from taking break at the same time. Please coordinate your times with the Davis & Green, Inc. superintendent. We will also require that workers separate during break and do not congregate in groups larger than two to three people.
- Ensure that provisions shall be made for carpooling in company vans and other vehicles.
- Ensure that every business partner with personnel on site is required to submit a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) specific to COVID-19 for the Project. At a minimum, each JHA shall address temperature checks, sanitizing procedures for your workspaces, and methods to maintain social distancing.
- Ensure employees avoid close contact with individuals who are sick. The CDC defines “close contact” as (a) being within approximately 6 feet of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time (and can occur while caring for, living with, visiting or sharing a health care waiting room or area with a COVID-19 case) or (b) having direct contact with infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (e.g., being coughed on).
Routine Environmental Cleaning is Expected of All On Davis & Green Jobsites:
- All business partners should routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, countertops, handrails, and doorknobs. Use the cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas and follow the directions on the labels.
- Davis & Green, Inc. will endeavor to service portable bathrooms at a minimum of three (3) times a week where Davis & Green, Inc. is responsible for the portable bathrooms. On project sites where trade contractors provide their own portable bathrooms, trades must also endeavor to have them serviced at a minimum of three (3) times a week.
- All common break areas, lunch and break rooms will be cleaned multiple times throughout the workday. Project trailers/offices need to be cleaned daily.
- No communal food will be permitted at the offices or on the project site until further notice.
Immediate notice is required to be to Human Resources if any employee:
- Tested positive for COVID-19;
- Encountered someone known to have tested positive for COVID-19 or exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19;
- Been sent home (or who did not come to the project) because they have symptoms of acute respiratory illness, signs of a fever, and any other symptom consistent with COVID-19; or
- Completed a trip to a CDC-categorized Coronavirus Warning Level 3 location.
Davis & Green, Inc. will immediately notify the Project Owner, trade contractors and suppliers of the situation. Likewise, Davis & Green, Inc. expects that its business partners and/or the Project Owner will similarly immediately notify Davis & Green, Inc. if they are aware of individuals that meet any of the three categories above. Davis & Green, Inc. will then follow the CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), local state and federal health agencies’ recommendations for remediation.
Davis & Green, Inc. recognizes that there is a potential of shutting down a project site at the recommendation of the CDC, WHO, local, state or federal health organizations. If, after following the procedures outlined by these organizations, it is decided upon their recommendation and in consultation with the Project Owner to close the Project or suspend operations on site, such decision will be communicated to all parties involved on the Project along with a remediation plan developed in conjunction with local health organizations.
Emphasis on the need to stay home when sick and the importance of proper respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene will be discussed with all employees and the following procedures:
- Davis & Green, Inc. posted signage that (i) encourages sick individuals to stay home and (ii) explains proper cough and sneeze etiquette and hand hygiene at the entrance(s) to the Project and in other workplace areas where they are likely to be seen.
- Davis & Green, Inc. and its business partners will remind employees to clean their hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95% alcohol or wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.
- Davis & Green, Inc. has provided hand sanitizer in the workplace and jobsites. We ask that our trade contractors do the same and provide hand wipes along with sanitizer as supplies are available.
- All employees must self-check his or her temperature daily prior to coming to work. If any temperature reading is above 100.4° F [37.8° C], the worker must stay home. All workers must be fever free for at least 72 hours and show no other symptoms associated with COVID-19. By coming to work and onto the project site, workers are self-certifying that they are not sick and able to work within the guidelines of the CDC. Companies allowing workers who are knowingly sick to report to work will be responsible for their worker’s actions. At Davis & Green, Inc.’s discretion, Davis & Green, Inc. may require any worker to affirmatively state he/she is fever-free before entering the Project site.
Any and all employees may be subject to having their temperature taken by infrared scan during the course of the work day.
We are taking steps to educate our employees on the symptoms of COVID-19.
The following symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure:
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
Our employees are expected to call their doctor if they:
- Develop symptoms and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19 or
- Have recently traveled from an area with widespread or ongoing community spread of COVIC-19.
Requiring Sick Employees to Stay Home:
- Individuals who have a fever (100.4° F [37.8° C] or greater using an oral thermometer) and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness are required to stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever and any other symptoms for at least 72 hours (three full days) AND symptoms have improved for at least 72 hours (three full days) AND at least fourteen (14) days (or the minimum duration of time imposed by the applicable state jurisdiction, whichever is longer) have passed since the symptoms first began. Individuals should notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick.
- Ensuring that our sick leave policies are flexible and consistent with public health guidance and that employees are aware of these policies.
- Talking with companies that provide your business with contract or temporary employees about the importance of sick employees staying home and encourage them to develop non-punitive leave policies.
- Considering foregoing requirement for a health provider’s note for employees who are sick with acute respiratory illness to validate their illness, as healthcare provider offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely way. However, a doctor’s note will be required for any individual to return to the Project if he/she has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or is otherwise out sick with acute respiratory illness.
Sending Home Our Sick Employees:
- In compliance with the CDC recommendation, any employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms (i.e., cough, shortness of breath, etc.) and/or fever (100.4° F [37.8° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), upon arrival to work or who become sick during the day be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately. All employees should cover their noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing (or an elbow or shoulder if no tissue is available).
Please stay informed as the CDC is updating its website daily www.cdc.gov/ncov with the latest information and advice for the public. If you have any questions regarding this interim guidance, please do not hesitate to contact Courtney Gibson with Davis & Green, Inc. Human Resources at (804) 231-9684.
Other resources:
OSHA Website: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/background.html
NIOSH Website: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/index.htm