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5/20/2021 COVID-19-Control and Prevention i occupational Safety and Health Administration Protect Workers Performing Screening Duties As part of screening programs, ensure that personnel performing screening activities, including temperature checks, are appropriately protected from exposure to potentially infectious workers entering the workplace: • Implement engineering controls, such as physical barriers or dividers or rope and stanchion systems, to maintain at least 6 feet of distance between screeners and workers being screened. ■ Ensure that screening is conducted in a safe area by, for example, directing parking lot or delivery traffic elsewhere. ■ If screeners need to be within 6 feet of workers, provide them with appropriate PPE based on the repeated close contact the screeners have with other workers. o Such PPE may include gloves, a gown, a face shield, and, at a minimum, a medical-grade face mask. o Train employees on how to properly put on, take off, and dispose of all PPE. o Filtering facepiece respirators, such as N95s, may be appropriate for workers performing screening duties. If respirators are needed, they must be used in the context of a comprehensive respiratory protection program that includes medical evaluation, fit testing, and training in accordance with OSHA's Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134). Q OSHA video: Putting on and Taking off a Mask (Spanish) o OSHA poster: Seven Steps to Correctly Wear a Respirator at Work (available in 16 languages) Worker Screening Screening workers for COVID-19 signs and/or symptoms (such as through temperature checks) is a strategy that employers may choose to implement as part of their efforts to maintain or resume operations and reopen physical work sites. Employers may consider developing and implementing a screening and monitoring strategy aimed at preventing the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into the work site.* Those who may be infected with SARS-CoV-2 may not show any signs or symptoms, thus screening and monitoring may have limitations. The complexity of screening will depend on the type of work site and the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak among staff, but, if implemented, should include: ■ Protocols for screening workers before entry into the workplace (which may entail asking workers to take their own temperatures or otherwise perform self-screening measures before reporting to work). ■ Criteria for the exclusion of sick workers (including asymptomatic workers who have tested positive for SARS- CoV-2 and have not yet been cleared to discontinue isolation). ■ Criteria for return to work of exposed and recovered employees (those who have had signs or symptoms of COVID-19 but have gotten better). Because people infected with SARS-CoV-2 can spread the virus even if they do not have signs/symptoms of infection, screening may play a part in a comprehensive program to monitor worker health during the pandemic but may have limited utility on its own. In many workplaces, screening efforts are likely to be most beneficial when conducted at home by individual workers. Employers' temperature screening plans may rely on workers self- monitoring, rather than employers directly measuring, temperatures. Consider implementing such programs in conjunction with sick leave policies that encourage sick workers, including those whose self-monitoring efforts reveal a fever, to stay at home. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19, eligible for 100% reimbursement through employer tax credits. https:Nwww,osha.govlcoronaviruslcontrol-prevention 319