Kansas Reopening Guidance Checklist for Businesses and Employers

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Screening for symptoms

As a best practice, worksites should establish procedures for employees and contractors to either self-screen for symptoms prior to shifts or be screened prior to entering the facility. Screening should include temperature checks, as well as inquiring about other COVID-19 symptoms.

Exclusion from work

As a best practice, employees and contractors exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 without other obvious explanations, should be prohibited from coming to work, and if they do come to work, they should be sent home immediately.
Consider posting symptom based posters asking people to leave the premises if sick
Employers should be familiar with the symptoms of COVID-19 based on KDHE guidance. The current known symptoms are: • Fever • Chills • Rigors • Muscle or body aches • Fatigue • Headache • Sore throat • Lower respiratory illness (cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing) • New loss of taste or smell • Diarrhea
Ensure that your sick leave policies are flexible and consistent withpublic health guidance and that employees are aware of these policies.
Talk with companies that provide your business with contract or temporary employees about the importance of sick employees staying home and encourage them to develop non-punitive leave policies.
Do not require a healthcare provider’s note for employees who are sick with acute respiratory illness to validate their illness or to return to work, as healthcare provider offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely way.
Employers should maintain flexible policies that permit employees to stay home to care for a sick family member. Employers should be aware that more employees may need to stay at home to care for sick children or other sick family members than is usual.

Emphasize respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all employees

Provide educational materials that encourage staying home when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette, and hand hygiene at the entrance to your workplace and in other workplace areas where they are likely to be seen.
Provide tissues and no-touch disposal receptacles for use by employees.
Instruct employees to clean their hands often by washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95% alcohol may be used if soap and water are notavailable. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.
Provide soap and water and alcohol-based hand rubs in the workplace. Ensure that adequate supplies are maintained. Place hand rubs in multiple locations or in conference rooms to encourage hand hygiene.
Remind employees to cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing or use the inside of the elbow. Throw used tissues in the trash and immediately wash hands with soap and water, or hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

Perform routine environmental cleaning

Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, suchas workstations, countertops, and doorknobs. Use the cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas and follow the directions on the label.
If hard surfaces are visibly soiled (dirty), clean them using a detergent or soap and water before you disinfect them.
For disinfection, most common, EPA-registered household disinfectants should be effective as well as diluted household bleach solutions or alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol. A list of products that are EPA-approved for use against the virus that causes COVID-19 is available on the EPA website. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products.
Provide disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces (forexample, doorknobs, keyboards, remote controls, desks) can be wiped down by employees before each use.
Encourage employees to avoid using other employees’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment, when possible. If necessary, clean and disinfect them before and after use.

Assess your essential functions

Be prepared to change your business practices if needed to maintain critical operations (e.g., identify alternative suppliers, prioritize existing customers, or temporarily suspend some of your operations if needed)
Identify alternate supply chains for critical goods and services. Some goods and services may be in higher demand or unavailable.
Talk with companies that provide your business with contract or temporary employees about the importance of sick employees staying home and encourage them to develop non-punitive leave policies.
Talk with business partners about your response plans. Share best practices with other businesses in your communities (especially those in your supply chain), chambers of commerce, and associations to improve community response efforts.

Before reopening office buildings, check the building to see if it’s ready for occupancy

Ensure that ventilation systems in your facility operate properly. For building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC systems) that have been shut down or on setback, review new construction start-up guidance provided in ASHRAE Standard 180-2018, Standard Practice for the Inspection and Maintenance of Commercial Building HVAC Systems.
Increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible by opening windows and doors, using fans, and other methods. Do not open windows and doors if doing so poses a safety or health risk for current or subsequent occupants, including children (e.g., allowing outdoor environmental contaminants including carbon monoxide, molds, or pollens into the building).
Evaluate the building and its mechanical and life safety systems to determine if the building is ready for occupancy. Check for hazards associated with prolonged facility shutdown such as mold growth, rodents or pests, or issues with stagnant water systems, and take appropriate remedial actions.

Identify where and how workers might be exposed to COVID-19 at work

Conduct a thorough hazard assessment of the workplace to identify potential workplace hazards that could increase risks for COVID-19 transmission.
Identify work and common areas where employees could have close contact (within 6 feet) with others — for example meeting rooms, break rooms, the cafeteria, locker rooms, check-in areas, waiting areas, and routes of entry and exit.
Include all employees in the workplace in communication plans — for example management, staff, utility employees, relief employees, janitorial staff, maintenance staff, and supervisory staff.
If contractors are employed in the workplace, develop plans to communicate with the contracting company regarding modifications to work processes and requirements for the contractors to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

Develop hazard controls using the hierarchy of controls to reduce transmission among workers upon reopening. Include a combination of controls noted below

Consider establishing policies and practices for social distancing • Implementing flexible work sites (e.g., telework) • Implementing flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts) • Implementing flexible meeting and travel options (e.g., postponenon- essential meetings or events) • Downsizing operations • Delivering services remotely (e.g., phone, video, or web) • Delivering products through curbside pick-up or delivery • Modify or adjust seats, furniture, and workstations to maintain social distancing of 6 feet between employees. • Install transparent shields or other physical barriers where possible to separate employees and visitors where social distancing is not an option. • Arrange reception or other communal seating area chairs by turning, draping (covering chair with tape or fabric so seats cannot be used), spacing, or removing chairs to maintain social distancing. • Use methods to physically separate employees in all areas of the facilities including work areas and other areas such as meeting rooms, break rooms, parking lots, entrance and exit areas, and locker rooms. • Use signs, tape marks, or other visual cues such as decals or colored tape on the floor, placed 6 feet apart, to indicate where to stand when physical barriers are not possible. • Replace high-touch communal items, such as coffee pots, water coolers, and bulk snacks, with alternatives such as prepackaged, single-serving items.
Take steps to improve ventilation in the building: • Increase the percentage of outdoor air (e.g., using economizer modes of HVAC operations) potentially as high as 100% (first verify compatibility with HVAC system capabilities for both temperature and humidity control as well as compatibility with outdoor/indoor air quality considerations). • Increase total airflow supply to occupied spaces, if possible. • Disable demand-control ventilation (DCV) controls that reduce air supply based on temperature or occupancy. • Consider using natural ventilation (i.e., opening windows if possible and safe to do so) to increase outdoor air dilution of indoor air when environmental conditions and building requirements allow. • Improve central air filtration: • Increase air filtration to as high as possible (MERV 13 or 14) without significantly diminishing design airflow. • Inspect filter housing and racks to ensure appropriate filter fit and check for ways to minimize filter bypass • Consider running the building ventilation system even during unoccupied times to maximize dilution ventilation. • Generate clean-to-less air movement by re-evaluating the positioning of supply and exhaust air diffusers and/or dampers and adjusting zone supply and exhaust flow rates to establish measurable pressure differentials. Have staff work in areas served by “clean” ventilation zones that do not include higherrisk areas such as visitor reception or exercise facilities (if open).
Consider conducting daily in-person or virtual health checks (e.g., symptoms and/or temperature screening) of employees before they enter the work site. See CDC’s COVID-19 General Business FAQs for guidance on how to safely conduct employee screening. • To prevent stigma and discrimination in the workplace, health checks should be as private as possible. Maintain confidentiality of individual medical status and history.
For employees who commute to work using public transportation or ride sharing, consider offering the following support: • Incentives to use forms of transportation that minimize close contact with others (e.g., biking, walking, driving or riding by car either alone or with household members). • Ask employees to follow CDC guidance on how to protect yourself when using transportation. • Allow employees to shift hours to commute during less busy hours.
Employees should wear cloth face coverings that cover nose and mouth in all areas of the business to contain the wearer’s respiratory droplets and help protect their co-workers and members of the general public.

Advise employees before traveling to take certain steps

Carefully consider whether travel is necessary.
Consider canceling, adjusting, or postponing large work-related meetings or gatherings that can only occur in-person.
If an employee has recently traveled from a location on the KDHE Travel-related Quarantine List the employee is subject to a mandatory14-day quarantine starting from the day after they return to Kansas.
When videoconferencing or teleconferencing is not possible, hold meetings in open, well-ventilated spaces.
Check the CDC’s Traveler’s Health Notices for the latest guidance and recommendations for each country to which you will travel. Specific travel information for travelers going to and returning from China, and information for aircrew, can be found at on the CDC website.
Advise employees to check themselves for symptoms of acute respiratory illness before starting travel and notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick.
Ensure employees who become sick while traveling or on temporary assignment understand that they should notify their supervisor and should promptly call a healthcare provider for advice if needed.
If outside the United States, sick employees should follow your company’s policy for obtaining medical care or contact a healthcare provider or overseas medical assistance company to assist them with finding an appropriate healthcare provider in that country. A U.S. consular officer can help locate healthcare services. However, U.S. embassies, consulates, and military facilities do not have the legal authority, capability, and resources to evacuate or give medicines, vaccines, or medical care to private U.S. citizens overseas.

Defining cases and close contacts

A person is considered a case of COVID-19 disease if they have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus by a diagnostic test (PCR or antigen). Based on what we currently know, a case is considered infectious 2 days prior to the onset of symptoms through at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms. For cases that do not have symptoms, the infectious period is considered as 2 days prior to the date the sample was collected through a minimum of 10 days from the date the sample was collected. Cases must remain in isolation until they have met the criteria for release from isolation set by KDHE or the local health department
A person is considered a close contact of a case if they were within 6 feet of the case for 10 minutes or more, or if they had exposure to secretions (for example, being coughed or sneezed on). Close contacts must remain in quarantine until they have met the criteria for release from quarantine set by KDHE or the local health department

Return to work after exclusion

Once an employee or contractor is excluded from the facility, they may return if they satisfy the recommendations of KDHE or the local health department. Currently those guidelines are: • Untested. It is recommended that persons who have not received a test proving or disproving the presence of SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but experience symptoms may return if the following conditions are met: • Ten (10) calendar days have passed since symptoms first appeared AND • Fever free for 72 hours without the use of fever reducing medicine and other symptoms have improved (for example, when cough or shortness of breath have improved) • Whichever criteria is longer. Meaning, a minimum of 10 days.
• Tested and awaiting results. Persons who are suspected of having COVID-19 disease and are awaiting test results must be isolated at home until test results are received.
• Positive result. • Symptomatic cases may return if the following conditions are met: • Ten (10) calendar days have passed since symptoms first appeared AND • Fever free for 72 hours without the use of fever reducing medicine and other symptoms have improved (for example, when cough or shortness of breath have improved) • Whichever criteria is longer. Meaning, a minimum of 10 days. • Asymptomatic cases may return if the following conditions are met: • Ten (10) calendar days have passed since the date sample was collected AND • Symptoms have not developed. • If symptoms develop during the 10-day isolation period, then follow the above criteria for symptomatic cases with a new isolation period starting from the day symptoms started.
• Negative result. • Known exposure to a COVID-19 case or travel from a location on the KDHE Travelrelated Quarantine List. • People who are identified as close contacts of a COVID-19 case or have travelled from a location on the KDHE Travel-related Quarantine List must be quarantined for 14 days. A negative test result within the 14- day quarantine period does not affect the quarantine period and the person must finish their 14- day quarantine. • No known exposure to a COVID-19 case or travel-related exposure. People who have not been identified as a close contact to a COVID-19 case and have not travelled from a location on the KDHE Travel-related Quarantine List may return to work.