Helping Our Community Return to Work Safely

The Roper St. Francis Physician Partners Occupational Medicine team knows how important it is for your business to re-open, but we also understand that you need to keep your employees’ health and well-being top of mind. We can support you through this transition with COVID-19 resources and screening, so you can get back to work safely.

Re-opening Safely

Before re-opening your business, make sure your policies cover when employees should stay home and when they can safely return to work.

Employees with symptoms

• People who have symptoms should stay home until their symptoms resolve. Encourage self-isolation when someone has symptoms.
• Employees should be considered sick if they have symptoms of acute respiratory illness such as shortness of breath, coughing or a fever of 100.4° F or higher.
• Negative COVID-19 testing is NOT recommended or required for people to return to work. Even workers who were confirmed to have COVID-19 do not have to have negative testing to return to work.
• Employees should not come to work until 10 days have passed since their symptoms began AND they are free of fever (100.4° F). Or, they don’t have signs of fever for three days without the use of fever-reducing medicine, and their other symptoms have improved.
• The safest approach is to assume everyone is infected and follow the recommended guidelines to avoid transmission of the virus.

On-site Safety Measures

• Keep on-site employees at a minimum and reduce on-site work hours. Only require employees to come in for baseline on-site functions.
• Require all other employees to work from home.
• Limit in-person meetings of any size. Communicate virtually whenever possible.
• Audit your workflows to remove any situations where employees are not within six feet of each other.
• Where appropriate, have on-site employees wear face coverings (except employees with respiratory conditions) and gloves.
• Stagger shifts and work hours to minimize in-person contact.
• Stagger use of shared spaces, including bathrooms, break rooms and lunchrooms.
• Stagger facility entry and exit procedures so employees can maintain six feet of physical distancing.
• Ban all non-essential deliveries and visitors.

Facility Cleaning

• Frequently clean and disinfect shared facilities, such as bathrooms, breakrooms and lunchrooms.
• Implement a sanitization process throughout the facility. Include access to soap and water, hand sanitizer and single-use gloves.
• Limit high-touch areas: prop open doors, provide hands-free technology and do not share food.
• Use blue tape to mark surfaces that have frequent human contact. Disinfect these surfaces multiple times a day.

Here's What We Can Do

Individual Safety Plans

We recognize that not all businesses are the same, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan for safely returning to work. We’ll help you tailor a safety strategy that fits your business needs. Putting a plan in place will help ease concerns for both you and your team as you get back to work. We’ll get through this together.

Call (844) 907-CV19 (2819).

Essential COVID-19 Resources and Guidance

Once you re-open, encourage your employees to assess their health every day before going to work. If they are having COVID-19 symptoms, they should call their supervisor to report their symptoms and seek medical care or a virtual visit. Make sure to report contact with any person who tests positive for COVID-19.

Check these sites often for updated information.

• South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) COVID-19 re-opening guidance for businesses
• DHEC COVID-19 website
• DHEC resources for businesses and employers

More resources for businesses

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) frequently asked questions for businesses and employers
• CDC resources for businesses and workplaces
• CDC COVID-19 symptom checker
  

Roper St. Francis Healthcare is here to help you and your employees return to work safely. Call our employer COVID-19 resource line with any questions: (844) 907-CV19 (2819) or submit your questions online using the form below.