Employers and Corona

The Corona (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic affects social and economic life equally, both employed and non-employed. This pandemic situation poses a threat to the health of an indefinite number of people and at the same time to public safety and order. It has a significant impact on everyone’s life. It affects all economic activity and therefore the entire world of work. Safety and health protection and the ramp-up of the economy can only work in harmony if a stop-and-go effect is to be avoided.

The special occupational safety measures described below aim to protect the population by breaking the chains of infection, to ensure the health of employees, to restore economic activity and at the same time to create a medium-term, persistent state of flat infection curves. The order of priority from technical to organizational to personal protective measures must be taken into account.

Two clear principles apply:

The employer is responsible for implementing the necessary infection protection measures based on the results of the risk assessment. The employer must seek advice from occupational safety specialists and company doctors and coordinate with company interest groups.

If the company has an occupational safety committee, it coordinates the implementation of the additional infection protection measures in a timely manner and provides support in monitoring their effectiveness. Alternatively, a coordination/crisis team can be set up under the direction of the employer or a person appointed in accordance with Section 13 ArbSchG/DGUV Regulation 1 with the participation of the works council, occupational safety specialist and company doctor.

Employees should keep a sufficient distance (at least 1.5 m) from other people. Where this is not possible even through work organization measures, alternative protective measures must be taken. Transparent partitions must be installed when there is public traffic and, if possible, to separate workstations where there is otherwise no protective distance.

Office work should be carried out in the home office if possible. Otherwise, the free space for office workstations must be used and work organized in such a way that multiple occupancy of rooms can be avoided and sufficient protective distances are provided.

Skin-friendly liquid soap and towel dispensers must be provided to clean hands. Adequate cleaning and hygiene must be provided; if necessary, the cleaning intervals must be adjusted. This particularly applies to sanitary facilities and common areas. Regular cleaning of door handles and handrails also helps prevent infections. Sufficient distance must be ensured in break rooms and canteens, e.g. B. by ensuring that tables and chairs are not too close together. It is important to ensure that, if possible, there are no queues when food is handed out, when dishes are returned or at the checkout. If necessary, the canteen and food serving times may need to be extended. Closing canteens should also be considered as a last resort.

Regular ventilation promotes hygiene and improves air quality, as the number of pathogens in the air can increase in closed rooms. Ventilation reduces the number of fine droplets containing pathogens that may be present in the air.

Special information on air conditioning systems (RLT):

The risk of transmission via RLT can be classified as low overall. It is not recommended to switch off the RLT, especially in rooms where infected people are being treated or where infectious materials are handled, as this can lead to an increase in the aerosol concentration in the room air and thus increase the risk of infection.

Even for work-related (customer) contacts outside the company premises, distances of at least 1.5 m must be maintained wherever possible. The work processes for these activities must be checked to see whether isolated work is possible if this does not pose additional risks. Otherwise, as small, fixed teams as possible (e.g. 2 to 3 people) should be planned in order to reduce changing contacts within the company employees during trips and work assignments outside the company premises. In addition, facilities for frequent hand hygiene must be created near the workplace for these activities. Furthermore, company vehicles must be additionally equipped with utensils for hand hygiene and disinfection as well as paper towels and garbage bags. When journeys are required for operational reasons, the simultaneous use of vehicles by several employees should be avoided if possible. In addition, the group of people who use a vehicle together – simultaneously or one after the other – should be limited as much as possible, e.g. B. by assigning a vehicle to a specified team. The interior of company vehicles must be cleaned regularly, especially when used by several people. Trips for material procurement or delivery should be reduced if possible and tour planning should be optimized accordingly.

For transport and delivery services, options for using sanitary facilities must be taken into account when planning routes, as hand hygiene is only possible to a limited extent due to the current closure of many publicly accessible toilets and washrooms.

For accommodation in collective accommodation, small, permanent teams should be established that also work together. If possible, these teams must be provided with their own shared facilities (sanitary rooms, kitchens, common rooms) in order to avoid additional burdens caused by shift use and necessary cleaning between uses by the individual teams. In principle, individual occupancy of bedrooms must be provided. Multiple occupancy of bedrooms is generally only permitted for partners or close family members. Additional rooms must be provided for the early isolation of infected people. Accommodation rooms must be ventilated and cleaned regularly and frequently. Dishwashers must be provided for kitchens in the property, as disinfection of dishes requires temperatures above 60°C. Washing machines must also be made available or a regular laundry service must be organized.

If possible, office work should be carried out in the home office, especially if office space would have to be used by several people with insufficient safety distances. Home office can also make a contribution to enabling employees to fulfill their care obligations (e.g. children or relatives in need of care). The topic page of the New Quality of Work Initiative (www.inqa.de) lists recommendations for employers and employees on using the home office.

Business trips and face-to-face events such as meetings should be reduced to the absolute minimum and, as far as possible, technical alternatives such as telephone or video conferences should be made available. If face-to-face events are absolutely necessary, there must be sufficient distance between participants.

Special organizational measures

The use of traffic routes (e.g. stairs, doors, elevators) must be adjusted so that sufficient distance can be maintained. Where experience shows that there are gatherings of people (time recording, canteen, tool and material distribution, elevators, etc.), protective distances for standing areas should be marked, for example with adhesive tape. Even when several employees work together, e.g. in assembly, the minimum distance between employees of 1.5 m should be guaranteed. Where this is not technically or organizationally guaranteed, alternative measures (wearing mouth and nose coverings) must be taken.

Tools and work equipment should be used for personal purposes wherever possible. Tools and work equipment should be used for personal purposes wherever possible. Otherwise, suitable protective gloves must be used when using the tools, unless this results in additional dangers (e.g. being caught by rotating parts). Gestation period limitations and the individual disposition of the employees (e.g. allergies) must also be taken into account.

The occupancy density of work areas and shared facilities must be reduced through time equalization measures (staggered work and break times, shift work if necessary).

When setting up shift schedules, in order to further reduce contact with people within the company, it is important to ensure that, if possible, the same people are assigned to the same shifts. At the start and end of working hours, appropriate organizational measures must be taken to avoid a close encounter between several employees (e.g. when recording time, in changing rooms, washrooms and showers, etc.).

Particular attention must be paid to the exclusive use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and work clothing for personal use. It must be possible to store personal work clothing and PPE separately from everyday clothing. It must be ensured that work clothing is cleaned regularly. If it can be ruled out that additional risks of infection and/or hygiene deficiencies (e.g. due to contamination) arise and this means that contact with people within the company can be avoided, employees must be allowed to put on and take off their work clothes at home.

Access by persons outside the company must be limited to a minimum if possible. Contact details of people outside the company as well as the time of entering/leaving the workplace/company premises must be documented if possible. Persons outside the company must also be informed about the measures that currently apply in the company with regard to infection protection against SARS-CoV-2.

Company regulations must be put in place to quickly clarify suspected cases of COVID-19 disease. Fever, cough and shortness of breath in particular can be signs of a coronavirus infection. For this purpose, fever measurement must be carried out in the company as contactlessly as possible.

Employees with corresponding symptoms must be asked to leave the company premises immediately or to stay at home. Until the suspicion has been clarified by a doctor, the employee is assumed to be unable to work. Those affected should immediately contact a treating doctor or the health department by telephone for clarification. The employer should make provisions in the company pandemic plan to identify and inform those people (employees and, where possible, customers) who are also at risk of infection through contact with the infected person in the event of confirmed infections.

The Corona crisis not only threatens and unsettles companies, but also creates great fear among many employees. Other aspects to be taken into account with regard to psychological stress include possible conflictual disputes with customers, long-term high work intensity in systemically important industries and social distancing requirements. These additional psychological stresses should be taken into account as part of the risk assessment and, based on this, appropriate measures should be taken.

Special personal measures

If contact with other people is unavoidable or protective distances cannot be maintained, mouth and nose coverings – PPE in particularly vulnerable work areas – should be provided and worn.

Comprehensive communication within the company must be ensured about the prevention and occupational safety measures that have been introduced. Instruction for managers ensures operational confidence and should be carried out centrally if possible. There should be a single point of contact and the flow of information should be ensured. Protective measures must be explained and information must be made understandable (including through information signs, notices, floor markings, etc.). It is important to ensure compliance with personal and organizational hygiene rules (distance requirement, “coughing and sneezing etiquette”, hand hygiene, PPE). The information from the Federal Center for Health Education is also helpful for instructions.

Occupational health care must be made possible or offered to employees. Employees can seek individual advice from the company doctor, including about particular risks due to a previous illness or an individual disposition. Fears and psychological stress must also be addressed. The company doctor knows the workplace and suggests suitable protective measures to the employer if the normal occupational safety measures are not sufficient. If necessary, the doctor may also recommend a change of activity to the person concerned. The employer only finds out about this if the person concerned expressly consents. Occupational health care can be carried out by telephone; Some company doctors offer a hotline for employees.

It can be assumed that the pandemic will last for a longer period of time

represents a challenge to infection protection at work. In order to meet these special challenges and enable a uniform approach nationwide and across sectors