Employee Health and Food Safety Checklist for Human and Animal Food Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This checklist describes existing recommendations as well as mandatory safety and health standards. This procedure is to help and to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.

MaintainX

09/16/2022

Employee Health and Food Safety Checklist for Human and Animal Food Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This checklist describes existing recommendations as well as mandatory safety and health standards. This procedure is to help and to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.

Employee Health

Employers should consider the following questions when assessing operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

General:

Have you developed a COVID-19 assessment and control plan4 , as recommended by CDC and OSHA

Have you identified a workplace coordinator to coordinate COVID-19 employee health and social distancing activities, as recommended for such a plan?

Have you provided employees a clear point of contact (e.g., the workplace COVID-19 coordinator) to report symptoms or illness and consult with when an employee who has been sick with COVID-19 symptoms meets the CDC criteria to end a home isolation period?

Have you established practices to assess employee health and minimize the spread of COVID-19 in accordance with recommendations from federal agencies such as CDC, FDA, OSHA, and any applicable state, local, tribal and/or territorial authorities?

Do these practices cover:

assessing employee health (e.g., assessing symptoms) prior to and/or upon arrival to work
what to do when an employee is symptomatic (has symptoms of COVID-19) or has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19
what to do when an employee has been exposed to co-workers or other people (e.g., family or friends) who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19
practices to protect workers at increased risk of severe illness, such as older adults and people of any age with a chronic medical condition (addressed based on consultation with occupational medicine and human resource professionals)?

Have you reached out to state and/or local public health officials and occupational safety and health professionals to establish ongoing communications to make sure you are getting relevant and up-to-date information concerning COVID-19?

Facilities:

Have you ensured that the work environment is generally free of recognized safety and health hazards, e.g., as described by OSHA?

Particularly when re-starting operations after a shut down, have you taken steps to ensure the temporary shutdown or reduced operation of a facility, including reductions in normal water use, have not created hazards, including those related to mold in the facility and Legionella in water systems, for returning occupants?

For all personnel:

Have personnel (workers and supervisors) been provided basic COVID-19 infection prevention information and training in a language and at a literacy level they understand, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you posted flyers (e.g., by lockers, in break rooms) with simplified messages in multiple languages that use infographics to facilitate employee understanding of COVID-19 infection control practices ?

Have you displayed simple posters in the languages that are common in the worker population that encourage staying home when sick (or after testing positive for the virus that causes COVID-19), cough and sneeze etiquette, and proper hand hygiene practices, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you considered using CDC videos on COVID-19 [14] to provide prevention information to your workers?

Have you made available enough facilities (e.g., handwashing stations), materials (e.g., soap, paper towels, hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol), and trash receptacles (preferably no-touch) so workers can implement CDC- and OSHA-recommended handwashing practices [15] and, to the extent feasible, social distancing while implementing hygiene practices?

Have you enhanced (i.e., increased the scope and frequency of) cleaning and disinfecting (using disinfectants from EPA’s list of disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2 [16]) of frequently touched surfaces such as timeclocks, door handles, faucets, control panels, vending machine touchpads, and handles on refrigerators and microwave ovens in break rooms, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you reduced the surfaces that employees touch by adding “no touch” features to otherwise frequently touched surfaces, such as clock in/out stations, hand sanitizer stations, doors, trash cans, and faucets, where feasible?

Do you have procedures for social distancing as described by CDC and OSHA?

Have you done an assessment to determine whether personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary to protect workers?

Do you have procedures for when and how to wear face masks or cloth face coverings as described in FDA’s fact sheets [17] and by CDC5 [18], or PPE (such as respirators and face shields) as recommended by CDC and OSHA [9], and policies for complying with applicable religious accommodation laws?

If practices include the use of PPE and/or masks/cloth face coverings, or changes to these uses, have you provided training on proper wearing, removal, and cleaning (if applicable) of PPE and face coverings, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you analyzed your sick leave policies as described by CDC and OSHA to make sure that ill workers, including asymptomatic workers infected with SARS-CoV-2, are not in the workplace and to ensure employees are not penalized for taking sick leave if they have COVID-19?

Does your plan consider whether you are able to offer vulnerable workers (older adults and people of any age who have certain underlying medical conditions [19]) roles that minimize their contact with others?

Have you consulted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidance regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act during the pandemic?

Do your procedures include situations in which you provide shared transportation to workers, e.g., between establishments or to the fields, when appropriate [5]? As recommended by CDC and OSHA [5, 6, 9], if shared transportation such as carpooling or using company shuttle vehicles is a necessity for workers:

Have you limited the number of people per vehicle to provide as much space as feasible between riders (which may mean using more vehicles or making more frequent trips)?
Is everyone in the vehicle required to wear a mask or face covering and use hand sanitizer on entry/exit?
Are windows open to increase air flow, when feasible?
Are commonly touched surfaces, such as door handles, handrails, and seatbelt buckles, cleaned and disinfected after each carpool or shuttle trip?
Have you provided workers with information on how to protect themselves when using shared transportation?

If workers live in shared/communal housing facilities (e.g., seasonal farm workers) have you developed measures on COVID-19 infection prevention, including personal preventive measures and approaches for social distancing (particularly in shared rooms such as kitchens, bathrooms, and sleeping quarters), as described by CDC?

For persons who are symptomatic or develop symptoms at work:

Are procedures in place that require symptomatic workers to stay home or go home if they develop symptoms during the work day?

Are procedures in place to physically isolate a symptomatic person from others, including identifying a designated isolation area, prior to the sick person being transported from the facility?

Are procedures in place to provide alternate transportation in a manner that does not expose others if an employee that develops symptoms arrived via shared transportation?

Are procedures in place to collect information about the sick person’s contacts (up to 2 days prior to symptom onset) to identify other workers who could be considered exposed (e.g., people who were in close contact with [less than 6 feet from] the symptomatic worker for at least 15 minutes)? (A close contact is defined in CDC’s Public Health Guidance for Community-Related Exposure)

Are procedures in place to inform fellow workers of their possible exposure to COVID-19 when a sick person is confirmed infected (maintaining confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Do your procedures instruct exposed workers about how to proceed based on the CDC Public Health Guidance for Community-Related Exposure?

Do you have workers’ home contact information to facilitate contact about health status and/or sharing information about their potential contact with a symptomatic or diagnosed individual?

Do you have procedures to clean and disinfect surfaces using disinfectants from EPA’s list of disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2 [16] in all areas used by a sick person, as recommended by CDC?

Do these procedures include closing off areas used by the sick person (before cleaning and disinfecting) for at least 24 hours whenever feasible, and opening outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the area (as recommended by CDC)?
Do these procedures include measures to protect the person doing the cleaning, such as wearing skin protection and, where needed, eye protection for potential splash hazards?
Do the measures address cleaning and disinfecting the vehicles in which the sick person arrived at and departed from work, when feasible?

Do you know how to contact your state, local, tribal, and/or territorial health department [26] should you have questions or suspect an outbreak in your operation?

Employee Exposure Investigation & Testing

Does your COVID-19 assessment and control plan include procedures to identify close contacts of those exposed to a person with confirmed COVID-19 through case investigation and contact tracing, typically conducted by state or local health departments?

Do you have a procedure for establishing priority for testing (for example, CDC’s tiered approach) based on an assessment of risk in the workplace and other factors, such as high rates of COVID-19 transmission in the surrounding community or workers’ households?

Does your COVID-19 assessment and control plan include procedures for workers who have had an exposure?

Does your plan provide for exposed workers (i.e., workers who have had close contact with a person confirmed as positive for COVID-19) that are asymptomatic to be pre-screened and to self-monitor daily for onset of symptoms related to COVID-19, as CDC recommends?

Does your plan include procedures for when to test workers, as described by CDC?

Does your plan address the specific procedures for testing workers (e.g., the type of test, who will conduct the tests, and where they will be conducted) when testing is warranted, and what actions might be taken based on test results? (If you have a worker that has been confirmed as positive for COVID-19, consult with your local health agency and/or CDC for current recommendations on using test-based strategies as part of your strategy to identify and/or prevent workplace transmission.)

Do you have procedures for reintegration of workers who have tested positive for COVID-19, including those workers who have remained asymptomatic, as described in CDC’s interim guidance titled “Discontinuation of Isolation for Persons with COVID-19 Not in Healthcare Settings” and “Duration of Isolation and Precautions for Adults with COVID-19?

Work Environment Configuration

The configuration of the work environment can help mitigate the risk of spread of COVID-19 among workers.

Have you identified and addressed conditions where social distancing may be compromised, such as: near timeclocks; in hallways; at handwash stations, entrances and exits, vending machines, and microwaves; and in cafeterias, restrooms, common areas/breakrooms, and outdoor gathering areas?

Can you configure the work environment in your operation so that the workers are spaced at least 6 feet apart, wherever feasible? For example, as described in CDC and OSHA guidance,

Can you modify the alignment of work stations (e.g., for harvesting [5] or along production lines [9]) so that workers are at least 6 feet apart in all directions (e.g., side-to-side and when facing one another)?
Can the workstations be modified to achieve an ideal alignment in which workers do not directly face one another?
If it is not feasible to maintain a 6-foot distance between workers, can you use physical barriers, such as plexiglass or other impermeable, easily cleanable, dividers or partitions, to separate workers from each other?
Can you provide unidirectional paths through the operation, where feasible, including stairs, hallways, and cafeterias, to reduce contact in narrow areas?
Is it feasible to use floor markings to show proper distancing and floor traffic directions?

Can you consult with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning engineer to ensure adequate ventilation and/or adjust ventilation in work areas to help increase circulation of outdoor air as much as feasible to minimize workers’ potential exposure without compromising food safety?

If pedestal fans or hard-mounted fans are used in the facility, can you take steps to minimize air from fans blowing from one worker directly at another worker, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you removed personal cooling fans from the workplace to reduce the potential spread of any respiratory droplets, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you accounted for the effect of this change on workers’ risk of heat illness?

Have you adopted practices to encourage social distancing outside of production areas (e.g., entry at the operation, break rooms, restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and other areas where people may congregate or form lines)? For example, as recommended by CDC and OSHA:

Can you remove or rearrange chairs and tables, or add partitions to tables, in break rooms and other areas workers may frequent to increase worker separation?
Can you identify alternative areas to accommodate overflow volume, such as training and conference rooms, or use outside tents for break and lunch areas?

Can you adopt personnel practices that limit the exposure of individuals to other individuals by, for example, staggering work times, staggering break times, assigning the same personnel to the same shift, or placing farmworkers residing together in the same workgroups (“cohorting” workers), as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you provided instructions for work configuration or social distancing in common languages, using infographics to facilitate employee understanding, and at a literacy level appropriate for your personnel, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Work Space Configuration Examples

How to align workstations, if feasible

Not Protective

Good

Similarly, examples of ways to create social distancing during operations in fields (e.g., harvesting, weeding) are shown below

Good

Food Safety or HACCP Plan

Have there been changes to your ingredient suppliers or ingredients that may require you to consider new hazards, or reconsider your evaluation of your hazards, and whether you need to make changes as a result?

Have there been any changes to the food products you make and/or your customers that would require you to consider whether there are new hazards, or reconsider your evaluation of your hazards, and whether you need to make changes as a result?

Have there been changes to your operations or processes that require changes to your procedures or the timing of your procedures? For example, do changes to the frequency of shifts or number of personnel impact control measures, monitoring, or verification procedures?

Personnel

Have there been changes to who performs key roles and responsibilities that impact food safety, such as the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual, HACCP-trained individual, or persons who perform monitoring, verification, or other duties?

Have you planned how to operate and produce safe food with a reduced workforce if employees are sick? Do you have backups if your key people are unable to come to work?

Have there been personnel changes, such as new personnel or personnel serving in different roles, that require training in food hygiene and food safety (as required by 21 CFR §§117.4 and 507.4), or other training to ensure that personnel are qualified to perform their job duties?

Have there been changes in operations (e.g., assigning additional activities to an employee to reduce personnel in an area) or procedures (e.g., increased frequency of handwashing and hand sanitizing) that require training, as necessary to produce clean and safe food and to ensure individuals are qualified to perform their job duties?

Suppliers and Incoming Ingredients

Do you need to reconsider your incoming ingredient or receiving procedures to address changes to your suppliers or incoming ingredients? For example, do new ingredients or ingredients from different suppliers have a different look or label that needs to be reviewed during receiving to ensure the correct ingredient has been received, and, as appropriate, received from an approved supplier?

Do you need to reconsider your formulation, ingredient addition or substitution, batching, and/ or mixing procedures to account for the use of different ingredients, or ingredients with different concentrations?

Do you need to implement new supplier controls, or make changes to your existing supplier controls? For example, do you need to temporarily approve new suppliers?

If you are temporarily suspending onsite audits of your supplier, what other verification activities do you need to implement to ensure your incoming ingredients are safe? For audits related to FDA’s preventive controls requirements for human and animal food

For human food facilities: Do you need to consider/reconsider practices or procedures related to addressing allergens with current good manufacturing practices (CGMPs) or preventive controls in 21 CFR Part 117 because of changes to your suppliers or ingredients?

For animal food facilities: Do you need to consider/reconsider practices or procedures related to addressing nutrient toxicities or deficiencies with CGMPs or preventive controls in 21 CFR Part 507 because of changes to your suppliers or ingredients?

Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) Requirements

Have you reviewed your procedures to determine if you need to modify instructions or increase the frequency of employee handwashing and hand sanitizing?

Plants and Grounds

If you are reopening operations, have you reviewed your plants and grounds to ensure that buildings and areas surrounding buildings are appropriately maintained to protect against the contamination of human and animal food? For example, have you reviewed structures and roofs for holes that may cause leaks or allow for the entrance of pests and reviewed surrounding grounds for pest harborages?
Are services or vendors you typically use to maintain your plants and grounds operational and actively providing services, or do you need to consider alternative ways to maintain your plant and grounds?
Are the persons providing services able to conduct their activities while following appropriate COVID-19 infection prevention procedures?

Pest Control

Are services or vendors you typically use for pest control operational and actively providing services, or do you need to make alternative arrangements for pest control?
If you are resuming operations, have you performed a walkthrough of your operation to check traps or bait stations and look for other evidence of active pest infestation and taken any necessary steps to remove or exclude pests from your operation?

Sanitary Facilities

Do you need to increase the number of handwashing stations and hand sanitizer stations to ensure more frequent handwashing/hand sanitizing by employees?
Is installing touchless handwashing sinks, soap dispensers, sanitizer dispensers, paper towel dispensers, or trash receptacles feasible?

Sanitation

Do you have the necessary cleaning, sanitizing8, and disinfection9 supplies to restart or continue your operations?
Do you need to identify alternatives to your usual sanitation chemicals (e.g., to use a disinfectant for high-touch surfaces where you previously used a sanitizer)?

Do you need to make changes to your cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting procedures for certain areas or to the frequency of conducting them (e.g., see CDC’s?

For example:

Are you using products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 [16]) where necessary (e.g., for high-touch surfaces) and are they appropriate for the surface? (Check the product label guidelines for if and where these disinfectant products are safe and recommended for use in food manufacturing areas or food establishments.)
Do you have or need to use different cleaning, sanitizing, or disinfecting products (approved for food surface contact when used on them) that require different mixing procedures or concentrations?
Do you need updated instructions/training for the use of new cleaning, sanitizing, or disinfecting chemicals?
Do you need to perform cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfection of certain areas/surfaces more frequently?
Do you need to clean, sanitize, and disinfect additional surfaces? For example, have you considered, as recommended by CDC and OSHA [9], cleaning and disinfecting non-food contact surfaces such as equipment controls, wall switches, hand rails, door pulls, tools, plastic partitions, and other frequently-touched surfaces that may not impact food safety, but may be important to minimize the spread of COVID-19?

Equipment and Utensils

Do you have enough utensils and tools to ensure employees do not need to share them during work shifts, or have a plan to regularly clean and disinfect utensils and tools between uses, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?
Is your equipment operating properly to resume operations? For example, have you checked that coolers, freezers, conveyors, ovens, extruders, and other equipment important to food safety are operating as intended and in compliance with 21 CFR §§ 117.40 and 507.22? For facilities with ammonia refrigeration systems that may have been shut down, have you performed a pre-start up safety review as required by 29 CFR 1910.119(i) (OSHA’s standard “Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals” [36])?

Do you need to adjust your processes or controls because of changes to your operations, including because of changes in the number of people involved in specific operations?

Warehousing and Distribution

Are there delays in shipping that could impact the safety of your food, especially for refrigerated or frozen food? Do you have procedures to address delays or problems with your supply chain, contingency plans for the holding or storage of products, and instructions for situations that could affect the product safety of perishable foods?
If distributing in bulk, are there any changes to your shipping vessels that could introduce contaminants?
Do new employees or contractors need to be trained on adequate clean out procedures for bulk containers or shipping vessels?

Disclaimer

This checklist is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. It describes existing recommendations as well as mandatory safety and health standards. The checklist is intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to comply with safety and health standards and regulations promulgated by OSHA or by a state with an OSHA-approved state plan.

Source: MaintainX (Community Member)

Employee Health

Employers should consider the following questions when assessing operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

General:

Have you developed a COVID-19 assessment and control plan4 , as recommended by CDC and OSHA

Have you identified a workplace coordinator to coordinate COVID-19 employee health and social distancing activities, as recommended for such a plan?

Have you provided employees a clear point of contact (e.g., the workplace COVID-19 coordinator) to report symptoms or illness and consult with when an employee who has been sick with COVID-19 symptoms meets the CDC criteria to end a home isolation period?

Have you established practices to assess employee health and minimize the spread of COVID-19 in accordance with recommendations from federal agencies such as CDC, FDA, OSHA, and any applicable state, local, tribal and/or territorial authorities?

Do these practices cover:

assessing employee health (e.g., assessing symptoms) prior to and/or upon arrival to work

what to do when an employee is symptomatic (has symptoms of COVID-19) or has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19

what to do when an employee has been exposed to co-workers or other people (e.g., family or friends) who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19

practices to protect workers at increased risk of severe illness, such as older adults and people of any age with a chronic medical condition (addressed based on consultation with occupational medicine and human resource professionals)?

Have you reached out to state and/or local public health officials and occupational safety and health professionals to establish ongoing communications to make sure you are getting relevant and up-to-date information concerning COVID-19?

Facilities:

Have you ensured that the work environment is generally free of recognized safety and health hazards, e.g., as described by OSHA?

For all personnel:

Have personnel (workers and supervisors) been provided basic COVID-19 infection prevention information and training in a language and at a literacy level they understand, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you posted flyers (e.g., by lockers, in break rooms) with simplified messages in multiple languages that use infographics to facilitate employee understanding of COVID-19 infection control practices ?

Have you displayed simple posters in the languages that are common in the worker population that encourage staying home when sick (or after testing positive for the virus that causes COVID-19), cough and sneeze etiquette, and proper hand hygiene practices, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you considered using CDC videos on COVID-19 [14] to provide prevention information to your workers?

Have you reduced the surfaces that employees touch by adding “no touch” features to otherwise frequently touched surfaces, such as clock in/out stations, hand sanitizer stations, doors, trash cans, and faucets, where feasible?

Do you have procedures for social distancing as described by CDC and OSHA?

Have you done an assessment to determine whether personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary to protect workers?

Do you have procedures for when and how to wear face masks or cloth face coverings as described in FDA’s fact sheets [17] and by CDC5 [18], or PPE (such as respirators and face shields) as recommended by CDC and OSHA [9], and policies for complying with applicable religious accommodation laws?

If practices include the use of PPE and/or masks/cloth face coverings, or changes to these uses, have you provided training on proper wearing, removal, and cleaning (if applicable) of PPE and face coverings, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you analyzed your sick leave policies as described by CDC and OSHA to make sure that ill workers, including asymptomatic workers infected with SARS-CoV-2, are not in the workplace and to ensure employees are not penalized for taking sick leave if they have COVID-19?

Does your plan consider whether you are able to offer vulnerable workers (older adults and people of any age who have certain underlying medical conditions [19]) roles that minimize their contact with others?

Have you consulted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidance regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act during the pandemic?

Have you limited the number of people per vehicle to provide as much space as feasible between riders (which may mean using more vehicles or making more frequent trips)?

Is everyone in the vehicle required to wear a mask or face covering and use hand sanitizer on entry/exit?

Are windows open to increase air flow, when feasible?

Are commonly touched surfaces, such as door handles, handrails, and seatbelt buckles, cleaned and disinfected after each carpool or shuttle trip?

Have you provided workers with information on how to protect themselves when using shared transportation?

For persons who are symptomatic or develop symptoms at work:

Are procedures in place that require symptomatic workers to stay home or go home if they develop symptoms during the work day?

Are procedures in place to physically isolate a symptomatic person from others, including identifying a designated isolation area, prior to the sick person being transported from the facility?

Are procedures in place to provide alternate transportation in a manner that does not expose others if an employee that develops symptoms arrived via shared transportation?

Are procedures in place to inform fellow workers of their possible exposure to COVID-19 when a sick person is confirmed infected (maintaining confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Do your procedures instruct exposed workers about how to proceed based on the CDC Public Health Guidance for Community-Related Exposure?

Do you have workers’ home contact information to facilitate contact about health status and/or sharing information about their potential contact with a symptomatic or diagnosed individual?

Do you have procedures to clean and disinfect surfaces using disinfectants from EPA’s list of disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2 [16] in all areas used by a sick person, as recommended by CDC?

Do these procedures include closing off areas used by the sick person (before cleaning and disinfecting) for at least 24 hours whenever feasible, and opening outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the area (as recommended by CDC)?

Do these procedures include measures to protect the person doing the cleaning, such as wearing skin protection and, where needed, eye protection for potential splash hazards?

Do the measures address cleaning and disinfecting the vehicles in which the sick person arrived at and departed from work, when feasible?

Do you know how to contact your state, local, tribal, and/or territorial health department [26] should you have questions or suspect an outbreak in your operation?

Employee Exposure Investigation & Testing

Does your COVID-19 assessment and control plan include procedures to identify close contacts of those exposed to a person with confirmed COVID-19 through case investigation and contact tracing, typically conducted by state or local health departments?

Do you have a procedure for establishing priority for testing (for example, CDC’s tiered approach) based on an assessment of risk in the workplace and other factors, such as high rates of COVID-19 transmission in the surrounding community or workers’ households?

Does your COVID-19 assessment and control plan include procedures for workers who have had an exposure?

Does your plan provide for exposed workers (i.e., workers who have had close contact with a person confirmed as positive for COVID-19) that are asymptomatic to be pre-screened and to self-monitor daily for onset of symptoms related to COVID-19, as CDC recommends?

Does your plan include procedures for when to test workers, as described by CDC?

Work Environment Configuration

The configuration of the work environment can help mitigate the risk of spread of COVID-19 among workers.

Have you identified and addressed conditions where social distancing may be compromised, such as: near timeclocks; in hallways; at handwash stations, entrances and exits, vending machines, and microwaves; and in cafeterias, restrooms, common areas/breakrooms, and outdoor gathering areas?

Can you configure the work environment in your operation so that the workers are spaced at least 6 feet apart, wherever feasible? For example, as described in CDC and OSHA guidance,

Can you modify the alignment of work stations (e.g., for harvesting [5] or along production lines [9]) so that workers are at least 6 feet apart in all directions (e.g., side-to-side and when facing one another)?

Can the workstations be modified to achieve an ideal alignment in which workers do not directly face one another?

If it is not feasible to maintain a 6-foot distance between workers, can you use physical barriers, such as plexiglass or other impermeable, easily cleanable, dividers or partitions, to separate workers from each other?

Can you provide unidirectional paths through the operation, where feasible, including stairs, hallways, and cafeterias, to reduce contact in narrow areas?

Is it feasible to use floor markings to show proper distancing and floor traffic directions?

Can you consult with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning engineer to ensure adequate ventilation and/or adjust ventilation in work areas to help increase circulation of outdoor air as much as feasible to minimize workers’ potential exposure without compromising food safety?

If pedestal fans or hard-mounted fans are used in the facility, can you take steps to minimize air from fans blowing from one worker directly at another worker, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you removed personal cooling fans from the workplace to reduce the potential spread of any respiratory droplets, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Have you accounted for the effect of this change on workers’ risk of heat illness?

Have you adopted practices to encourage social distancing outside of production areas (e.g., entry at the operation, break rooms, restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and other areas where people may congregate or form lines)? For example, as recommended by CDC and OSHA:

Can you remove or rearrange chairs and tables, or add partitions to tables, in break rooms and other areas workers may frequent to increase worker separation?

Can you identify alternative areas to accommodate overflow volume, such as training and conference rooms, or use outside tents for break and lunch areas?

Have you provided instructions for work configuration or social distancing in common languages, using infographics to facilitate employee understanding, and at a literacy level appropriate for your personnel, as recommended by CDC and OSHA?

Work Space Configuration Examples

How to align workstations, if feasible

Not Protective

Good

Good

Good

Similarly, examples of ways to create social distancing during operations in fields (e.g., harvesting, weeding) are shown below

Good

Good

Food Safety or HACCP Plan

Have there been changes to your ingredient suppliers or ingredients that may require you to consider new hazards, or reconsider your evaluation of your hazards, and whether you need to make changes as a result?

Have there been any changes to the food products you make and/or your customers that would require you to consider whether there are new hazards, or reconsider your evaluation of your hazards, and whether you need to make changes as a result?