May 2020 Comp Alliance Safety Bulletin
For the past two months, the majority of our municipal operations have engaged in reduced roles, as th
e State of New York has been on PAUSE criteria. Soon perhaps, we can look to establish an expansion in operations, welcoming back employees and increasing established workloads. The Comp Alliance Risk Management department is here to assist our municipal members in establishing new guidelines for re-opening services while easing social isolation in getting employees back to work. NYS has established a “Phased Plan to Re-Open New York” and we’ll review this plan, municipal requirements from the plan and our loss prevention recommendations as well, all for the protection of your employees and the public health.
New York State has been under a PAUSE order for the past two months. This order has identified controls for essential and non-essential operations in an effort to reduce the impact of the coronavirus on the state. Parts of the PAUSE order included closing non-essential business, non-essential gatherings of any size are cancelled or postponed, when in public individuals must practice social distancing of at least six feet from others and wear masks, improved cleaning and sanitizing procedures, sick individuals should not leave their home unless to receive medical care and only after a tele-health visit to determine if leaving the home is in the best interest of their health, among others.
These PAUSE orders are due to be scaled back beginning May 15th. The state has issued re-opening guidelines for regions around the state: https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/NYForwardReopeningGuide.pdf
Many of the metrics identified from this Guide will be monitored and controlled by the State’s Regional Control Groups and include overall state and regional data collection to monitor gross numbers regarding the virus. Some details of interest to our municipal members in this Guide include adjusting work hours and shift design as necessary to reduce density in the workplace, enact social distancing protocols, require all employees and customers (public) to wear masks when in frequent contact with others, and implement strict cleaning and sanitation standards. Much of these processes have been in place since the PAUSE order was enacted.
Additionally, municipalities will also be required to enact continuous health screening processes for individuals who enter the workplace and continue tracing, tracking and reporting cases. How do these two procedures get completed? We suggest municipal members inform all employees of the common symptoms of coronavirus, which include a fever (100.4 degrees) and cough, while emergency warning signs include trouble breathing, pain or pressure in the chest that doesn’t go away, experience confusion or trouble waking up, and bluish lips or face, and require medical attention (this list is not all inclusive. Please consult your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning). This same information should be expressed to any customers (public) visiting municipal facilities prior to entry. As for the tracing and tracking requirement, it should now be standard practice to document all employees entering your municipal facilities as well as customers (public) should they come in contact with any staff member. School districts have utilized single-entry points with sign-in procedures for several years now and municipal facilities should look to do the same – this is part of the tracing process and may be used to identify where positive cases have traveled and contacted.
As for additional measures that will contribute in a positive manner to your municipal safety culture, our members should consider the health of returning employees and their ability to suddenly perform rigorous or hazardous work, remembering that some staff have been working from home for up to two months now. Are they all “fit-for-duty’ physically and emotionally? Asking employees to jump back into full-operation mode may take some time. Look to ease staff back into their job responsibilities so as to avoid physical injury. Administrators must also monitor the emotional well-being of staff, some of whom may have serious concerns about their safety in the office, for fear of contacting the public, working a high-hazard job, stresses at home due to sick or susceptible family members, etc. Please take into consideration all of these circumstances over the first few weeks for all staff returning to operations.
Municipal operations returning to the new normal will have administrators accepting change in their staff, facilities and the public, with an implementation of acceptable procedures that provide a safer and cleaner work environment, and improved safety culture throughout your municipal operations.
The Comp Alliance is here to help you enhance your safety culture. On May 14, 2020 we hosted a webinar on Safely Returning to Municipal Operations. The recorded version of the webinar is available on the Comp Alliance Academy for program members.
If you have any questions please contact Robert Blaisdell, Comp Alliance Director of Loss Control by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
