Professional Commercial Cleaning, Janitorial Services, and Facility Solutions

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Background

The health, safety and welfare of each member of our team as well as their family members is a high priority for us. We, therefore, are closely monitoring the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”). It is an evolving and dynamic situation, so our response to it may change. However, we wanted to provide you with background information about the virus causing COVID-19 to improve your understanding of the disease and provide some directions on how to respond to it.

A new virus first identified in Wuhan, China in late 2019 has been spreading across the globe and is now in the United States. The new coronavirus, COVID-19, is not a flu but a pneumonia-like infection. Coronaviruses, so called because of their crownlike shape, range from the common cold to SARS-CoV and 2012’s MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). They differ from Avian (H1N1) influenza and swine flu.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic. This designation signifies that we are in the midst of a global disease outbreak, which occurs when a new virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population, begins to cause serious illness, and then spreads easily person-to-person worldwide. There have only been four influenza pandemics since 1900. The most recent pandemic declaration was the H1N1 outbreak in 2009.

Once a pandemic is declared, public health officials use the Pandemic Severity Assessment Framework to determine the impact of the pandemic. Two main factors are used to determine the impact of a pandemic. First, the clinical severity, or how serious is the illness associated with infection. Second, the transmissibility, or how easily the pandemic virus spreads from person-to-person. The CDC uses these two factors to determine which actions to recommend at a given time during the pandemic. It will be important to monitor the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) pandemic severity assessment, as the severity level greatly affects the actions that an employer may take during a pandemic.

What are the symptoms of the current COVID-19 coronavirus?

The virus symptoms manifest as a mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. The CDC believes at this time that symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure.

How is the current COVID-19 coronavirus transmitted?

People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. Therefore, it is important to stay more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick. The CDC recommends as much as 6 feet. It is possible to catch the virus from someone even before they have symptoms, but little is known about this aspect of the virus at this time.

Can the virus spread from contact with infected surfaces or objects?

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

How to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19

There is currently no vaccine to prevent the COVID-19 infection. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus. Everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses include:

Clean your hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95 percent alcohol, or wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Put your used tissue in a waste basket.
If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hand.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, countertops, and doorknobs with the cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas, following the directions on the label of the cleaning agent.
Stay home when you are sick.
Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. At this time, the CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.

Scope

This coronavirus policy applies to all of our employees and vendors who physically work in our office(s) and our field personnel.

Company Policies

Here, we outline the required actions employees and vendors should take to protect themselves and their co-workers from a potential coronavirus infection.

If you become ill at work with acute respiratory illness symptoms (i.e. cough, shortness of breath), notify HR immediately so that you can be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately. If you are able to notify HR by telephone or email, you should do so.

Employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness are recommended to stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever (100.4° F [37.8° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppressants). Employees should notify HR and stay home if they are sick. If you believe you have been exposed to the virus causing COVID-19 and you are fever-free without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines for more than 24 hours, the Company may still ask you not to report to work or may ask you to work remotely.

If you have a confirmed case of COVID-19, please contact HR by phone or email. You will not be allowed to report to work for at least 14 days.

If you have a confirmed case of COVID-19, the Company will inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

Any employees exposed to a co-worker or family member with a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be asked to conduct a risk assessment (“Risk Assessment”) to assess their potential exposure pursuant to CDC guidance.

The Risk Assessment requires employees to assess their risk level and whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic.

Depending on your individual Risk Assessment, you may not be allowed to report to work for at least 14 days. During this 14-day period you may be permitted to telework or work remotely, depending on your position and in the Company’s sole discretion.

Depending on your risk exposure, the Company may recommend that you self-observe your symptoms until 14 days after your last potential exposure. The Company may recommend that you check your temperature before arriving at the workplace to ensure that you are still asymptomatic.

Employees who are well but who have a sick family member at home with COVID-19 should notify their supervisor and refer to CDC guidance for how to conduct a Risk Assessment of their potential exposure.
If you are asked to work remotely, and you need equipment or technical support to do so, please contact HR.

Company Safety Policies

Effective March 24, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-21 (COVID-19) which temporarily prohibits the operation of a business that requires workers to leave their home or places of residence except to the extent that those workers are necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operation.

Under guidelines issued by the State of Michigan and the US Department of Homeland Security, the Company is deemed to be an essential business under these guidelines.

As such, Executive Order 2020-21 mandates that the Company must determine which worker is deemed essential and must inform those workers of that designation.

For essential office personnel, we have implemented remote work opportunities.

For essential field operation staff, we have adopted CDC guidelines to protect staff. These guidelines include, but are not limited to:

Maintaining social distancing of at least six (6) feet when conducting face-to-face meetings
Requiring the use of gloves, eye and face protection
Requiring frequent hand washing and hygiene practices
Requiring frequent cleaning and disinfecting of work tools and equipment using an EPA registered disinfectant chemical
Discouraging the sharing of cell phones, telephone handsets, desks or other work areas without being properly disinfected first
Limiting the number of occupants within a confined space, or separating work in such a way as to promote social distancing

Customers, employees and vendors are encouraged to submit any questions to contact@premierbuildingmaint.com

Professional Commercial Cleaning, Janitorial Services, and Facility Solutions

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Clean your hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95 percent alcohol, or wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

Put your used tissue in a waste basket.

If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hand.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, countertops, and doorknobs with the cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas, following the directions on the label of the cleaning agent.

Stay home when you are sick.

Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. At this time, the CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.

If you have a confirmed case of COVID-19, please contact HR by phone or email. You will not be allowed to report to work for at least 14 days.

If you have a confirmed case of COVID-19, the Company will inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

Depending on your individual Risk Assessment, you may not be allowed to report to work for at least 14 days. During this 14-day period you may be permitted to telework or work remotely, depending on your position and in the Company’s sole discretion.

Maintaining social distancing of at least six (6) feet when conducting face-to-face meetings

Requiring the use of gloves, eye and face protection

Requiring frequent hand washing and hygiene practices

Requiring frequent cleaning and disinfecting of work tools and equipment using an EPA registered disinfectant chemical

Discouraging the sharing of cell phones, telephone handsets, desks or other work areas without being properly disinfected first

Limiting the number of occupants within a confined space, or separating work in such a way as to promote social distancing