Governor’s Office Releases Safe Workplace Rules for Essential Businesses

The governor's office on Tuesday released rules to keep essential workplaces safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the rules are extensions of social distancing guidelines that have previously been discussed.

The rules begin by stressing that anyone able to work from home should be working from home. For those who cannot, employers are asked to eliminate any non-essential travel, and to ask employees who recently traveled to any COVID-19 hotspots to stay home and self-monitor for 14 days.

Employers should control and limit contact between employees and other employees or customers however possible, including taking steps to social distance at work. This includes increasing physical space between employees and customers wherever possible, delivering services remotely when possible, and consider multiple shifts with the same groups of people each day to limit employee contact with each other.

Essential workers are also encouraged to wear cloth face coverings. In places where close contact is unavoidable, the governor's office encourages employers to provide masks.

The rules also include guidance on cleaning and reducing common touchpoints. There are specific CDC guidelines for disinfecting workplaces if someone suspected of having COVID-19 was there.

Employees who are sick should stay home, and take their temperature before going to work whenever possible. If you have been in close contact with a person with symptoms of COVID-19, or someone who has tested positive, you should not go to work, but self-isolate, and contact your supervisor and health care provider. Employers should notify other employees if someone in their workplace is confirmed as having COVID-19, while following confidentially requirements from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).