Safety Tips Disease Workplace exposure

COVID-19 at work: Help out the health department

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Photo: eyesfoto/iStockphoto

When a COVID-19 case occurs in the workplace, the local health department may ask an employer for help. Health departments are responsible for leading case investigations, contact tracing and outbreak investigations.

Here’s what employers and safety professionals can do to be ready to assist:

  • Establish a COVID-19 coordinator or team to help develop and put into action hazard assessment activities.
  • Create and implement a COVID-19 preparedness, response and control plan. Use this plan to help evaluate the risk of – and actions to prevent – the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
  • Be ready to quickly provide information and records (including work schedules, attendance records, building maps or floor plans) to the health department, without revealing confidential personnel records.
  • Encourage workers to report symptoms, exposures and contacts, emphasizing to workers the role they play in limiting the spread of COVID-19.

Learn more at sh-m.ag/3mweeI8.

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