On April 15, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) issued an Order directing businesses that remain open amid the coronavirus pandemic to take certain health and safety measures in the workplace. These measures include cleaning and disinfecting, as well as implementing changes to business operations to limit contact between workers and customers.

The Order is effective immediately, and the DOH will begin enforcing the mandate at 8 pm on April 19, 2020.

The Order provides an exemption for health care providers, but all other life-sustaining businesses that remain open must abide by the Order. It consists of three main components. The first outlines “social distancing, mitigation, and cleaning protocols” that all businesses must follow. The next describes measures that must be taken by a business upon discovering the business has been exposed to, “a person who is a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19.” Finally, the Order contains additional measures that must be taken by businesses that “serve the public within a building or a defined area.”

Social Distancing, Mitigation and Cleaning Protocols

The Order directs that all businesses continue the building safety measures described in the DOH’s April 6, 2020 Order and take the following additional measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus between employees, promote social distancing and prevent large gatherings of employees in the workplace where practicable:

• Stagger the times employees start and stop work, and start and stop breaks.
• Limit the number of employees who can be in common areas at one time.
• Rearrange meal and break spaces to maintain a distance of six feet between each employee.
• Conduct meetings and trainings virtually whenever possible.
• For meetings that must be held in-person, limit the meeting to the fewest number of employees possible (and no more than 10 people), and take measures to ensure a distance of six feet between employees.
• Ensure employees have access to soap, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes for hand washing.
• Ensure that common areas are cleaned on a regular basis, including between shifts.
• Provide CDC-approved masks for employees and require employees to wear them during work time. Employers may approve masks made or obtained by employees that are compliant with CDC guidelines.
• Ensure that the facility has a sufficient number of employees to perform and enforce the required measures safely and effectively.
• Prohibit non-essential visitors from entering the premises of the business.

Finally, all businesses covered by the Order are required to communicate these procedures to their employees, either verbally or in writing.

Steps Mandated After Exposure to Probable or Confirmed Case of COVID-19

Under the Order, a business that has been exposed to “a person who is a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19” must close off and ventilate areas visited by that individual; wait a minimum of 24 hours, or as long as practical, before beginning cleaning and disinfection; and then clean and disinfect all spaces, especially commonly used rooms areas and equipment.

The business must then identify and notify any employees who were in close contact with that individual (within about six feet for about 10 minutes). Thereafter, any employee who becomes sick should be sent home and follow CDC recommendations for how to respond to an exposure to COVID-19 (Interim Guidance for Implementing Safety Practice for Critical Infrastructure Workers Who May Have Had Exposure to a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19). Accordingly, such employee should not return to work until they have met the CDC’s criteria for completing home isolation, and after consulting with their health care provider.

Upon discovery of  exposure to a person who is a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19, businesses are also ordered to implement temperature screenings before employees enter the business prior to the start of work and send any employee home who has an elevated temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The Order also encourages businesses to implement liberal paid time off for employees who are on home isolation.

Additional Requirements for Businesses Open to the Public

In addition to the social distancing, mitigation and cleaning protocols discussed above, businesses that serve the public within a building or defined area are ordered to implement additional measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 between employees and customers. First, businesses must operate by appointment only where feasible, and encourage online ordering, or delivery/pick-up options. Where such measures are not feasible, businesses must limit the number of customers to no greater than 50% of their normal occupancy at one time. Further, businesses with a continuing in-person customer-facing component must designate a specific time for high-risk and elderly persons to use the business at least once per week.

Businesses must require customers to wear masks, and may refuse entry to customers not wearing a mask. However, there are some limited exceptions to this requirement. In the case of businesses providing medication, medical supplies, or food, such businesses can refuse entry to someone with a mask, but must provide an alternative method of obtaining such items, such as delivery or pickup. Finally, individuals who cannot wear a mask due to a medical condition may be allowed entry, and are not required to provide any documentation of their condition.

Finally, the Order sets forth additional changes that public-facing business must make to the operations, including:

• altering hours of business so that the business has sufficient time to clean or to restock or both
• installing shields or other barriers at registers and check-out areas to physically separate cashiers and customers or take other measures to ensure social distancing of customers and employees
• in businesses with multiple check-out lines, using every other register, or fewer
• after every hour, rotating customers and employees to the previously closed registers, and cleaning the previously open registers and the surrounding areas following each rotation;
• scheduling handwashing breaks for employees at least every hour
• where carts and handbaskets are available, assigning an employee to wipe such equipment before they are used by a new customer.

The DOH will begin enforcing this Order Sunday, April 19 at 8 pm. Therefore, Pennsylvania businesses should act quickly to create a plan and implement the measures outlines in this Order.

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