Protecting Your Business From Covid-19

Pandemics like COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, create a variety of unusual circumstances that you must be able to quickly adjust to. This guide can help you prepare for and react to COVID-19 impacts.

Download a PDF document of this information here.

Stay informed and understand your areas of risk:

  • Review the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state government websites for information on COVID-19 or current health crisis.
  • Identify a resource at your company to monitor the crisis and potential impacts to business.
  • Conduct a risk assessment of your operation, including such areas as staffing, business partners, supply chain, customers and potential shut-downs of suppliers, customers or transportation links.
  • Identify potential cash-flow and financing requirement to sustain your business.

Plan your response:

Staff, Visitor and Travel Policies:

  • Review employee leave policies and modify them as necessary to support extended sick or home quarantine periods.
  • Consider paid leave for these periods to encourage appropriate use.
  • Consider flexible working arrangements for staff including working on-line from home.
  • Review your visitor access policies and be prepared to limit visitors.
  • Consider replacing in-person meetings with on-line alternatives. Test online meeting tools prior to use.
  • Limit staff business travel to impacted areas; consult the CDC Travel Health Notice site for updates.

Help Employees Stay Healthy:

  • Maintain and enhance facility cleaning plans and consider providing hand-sanitizing locations on-site.
  • Provide illness prevention training and education to staff, encouraging to practice these habits at home and work.
  • Identify which staff and visitors need access to which areas of your facility, limit if possible.
  • Consider screening, home-quarantine and other policies as appropriate.
  • Consider a policy that supervisors must notify HR immediately if they become aware of diagnosed employee.
  • Implement social distancing guidelines if recommended by public health officials.

Communication Plan:

  • Develop an internal employee communication plan regarding the company’s response plan providing regular (at least weekly) updates and provide opportunities for questions and feedback.
  • Communicate to external business partners with updates on your response plan and impacts to them.
  • Plan and act based on facts and anticipate employee fear, anxiety, rumors and misinformation and plan communications accordingly.
  • Coordinate your response plan with local and state officials as needed.

 

Source: The Center for Industrial Research and Service, www.ciras.iastate.edu.

Contact John Stampen with questions 608.729.4012 | [email protected]