COVID-19 Plan
Proclamation 20-25 et. seq. issued by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee requires all businesses within Washington State to implement and comply with industry-specific guidelines by May 27, 2020, or prior to resuming business onsite. This is our COVID-19 exposure control, mitigation and recovery plan as mandated by the guidelines for professional services businesses, effective immediately.
COVID-19 Supervisor: State guidelines require each employer to name a site-specific COVID-19 Supervisor to monitor the health of employees and enforce the COVID-19 safety plan. Mark Nelson is designated the COVID-19 Supervisor. Whenever Mark Nelson is offsite and Jes Holst is onsite, then Jes Holst is the acting COVID-19 Supervisor.
- Employee Health. No employee may be at the office if s/he:
- Is experiencing cough; shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; sore throat; muscle pain; fatigue; chills;
fever above 4 degrees; or a sudden loss of taste or smell; or - Knows s/he has been exposed to COVID-19 in the past 14
- Is experiencing cough; shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; sore throat; muscle pain; fatigue; chills;
- Employee monitoring. Before driving to work each day, each employee is expected to self-assess whether s/he is experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 as referenced above or revised by future health guidelines. Any employee at the office is also subject to screening and temperature-taking by the COVID-19 Supervisor.
- Remote Work/Sick Leave. If an employee must stay home or is required to leave the office due to COVID-19 symptoms or exposure, s/he shall notify Mark Nelson and indicate whether s/he desires to take sick leave according to current policy or work remotely based upon the severity of any symptoms. An employee may be required to seek medical care and/or medical testing before returning to the office.
- Confirmed Exposure. If an employee is confirmed to have become infected with COVID-19, Mark Nelson will notify all other employees determined to have been in close contact with the infected individual, while maintaining confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Provided Personal Protective Equipment. The following personal protective equipment (PPE) will be provided for employee use at the office: cloth and disposable face masks, disposable gloves, hand sanitizer (>60% alcohol), tissue, cleaning supplies. An employee may alternatively use his/her own PPE, provided it is consistent with existing health guidelines. An appropriate sneeze shield will be installed at the reception desk before the office is opened to the public, unless it is no longer required by health guidelines.
- Use of Personal Protective Equipment. Except when alone in a room, employees must wear face masks at all times in the office. Disposable gloves should be used when handling mail or deliveries, as well as any time an employee intends to use common office equipment or surfaces.
- Personal hygiene. Each employee shall follow hygienic recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), including covering his/her mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; and washing his/her hands with soap for at least 20 minutes before using beverage dispensers or eating, and after coughing, sneezing, blowing his/her nose, or using the restroom.
- Cleaning. The office shall be cleaned on the following schedule:
Disinfected daily:
- Door handles
- Light switches
- Handles on supply and file cabinets
- Levers on the water cooler
- Exterior of coffee maker
- Handles on doors/drawers of coffee stand
- Reception desk return counter
Disinfected after each use:
- Conference room table, chairs, touched surfaces
- Lobby table and chairs
- Pens or other office supplies used in conference rooms or reception area;
- Any shared office equipment (date stamp, three-hold punch, commercial stapler, )
Disinfected weekly:
- Phone and handset
- Keyboard and mouse
- Desktop and drawer handles
- Printer exterior paper drawer and output tray
- Shared Equipment. Employees shall avoid sharing standard office equipment unless there is no feasible alternative. Any commonly shared office equipment shall be reported to the COVID-19 Supervisor, to determine whether additional equipment shall be purchased.
- Travel. So long as social distancing is required by published health guidelines, employees who do not share the same household may not share a vehicle when traveling for work purposes.
- Office Access. Office doors will initially remain locked throughout the day. Doorbells will be installed with different ring tones so that an employee of the appropriate office (Law Office of Mark D . Nelson or Law Office of Amanda J. Cook) may respond as necessary.
- Deliveries. A sign will be posted on the office door indicating preference for “contactless” delivery. If a delivery includes sensitive information (e.g. client documents), money, or requires a signature, the deliverer should ring the appropriate doorbell and wait for an employee to address the matter.
- Visitors. We will not resume office meetings with visitors at this time. Consults and meetings that might previously have occurred onsite will now be conducted by Zoom (or if Zoom is impractical, then by phone). The COVID-19 Supervisor may periodically approve an office visitor, but only after determining there is no practical alternative and that social distancing may be strictly maintained. In the event of an approved onsite meeting, the following shall occur:
- In advance of the meeting, the visitor shall be informed of office policies regarding COVID-19 safety, including instruction that:
- The visitor may not come to the office if s/he is experiencing any symptom of COVID-19 (see above) or believes s/he has been exposed to someone with the virus in the past 14 days, but shall instead call to reschedule or explore alternative ways to accomplish the purpose of the meeting (but again, if there is a feasible alternative, the visit likely should not have been approved in the first place);
- The visitor shall wear a face mask the entire time s/he is in the office, and will also be expected to use hand sanitizer upon entry;
- The visitor shall not bring anyone else with him/her, as we cannot accommodate more than one visitor and one staff member per conference room while maintaining adequate social distancing; and
- The visitor should expect to find the door locked and ring our doorbell when s/he arrives for the scheduled
- At the time of an authorized visit, the visitor’s attention shall be drawn to the door sign describing symptoms of COVID-19 and s/he shall be asked to acknowledge that none of the described risk factors If risk factors are present, the visitor shall not be granted entry and shall be instructed to call the office to make alternate arrangements. Our office will liberally reschedule appointments to address concerns of COVID-19 exposure.
- Authorized visitors should be immediately escorted to a conference room and asked to sit in the chair furthest from the In the event the waiting area must be utilized, no more than one authorized visitor at a time may be in the waiting area.
- In advance of the meeting, the visitor shall be informed of office policies regarding COVID-19 safety, including instruction that:
- Amendment. This plan is subject to amendment in writing without notice.