As many businesses develop plans to re-open following the Governor’s recently announced blueprint to “Un-PAUSE” the State of New York, a key element will be to ensure the workspace is properly sterilized. Joint guidance recently released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides cleaning and disinfection practices for public spaces, workplaces, businesses and schools.
The guidance provides a logical three-step approach for the development, implementation and maintenance of cleaning and disinfecting plans.
Step one involves determining what will be disinfected, how disinfection will be carried out and the resources/equipment needed for the process.
Step two is the implementation of the plan, with actual cleaning and disinfection of designated areas using the appropriate equipment and disinfection products while taking care to comply with the safety guidance on the labels. The plan should document all steps in the proper implementation.
Step three requires continued maintenance and revision of the plan while maintaining safe practices to reduce exposure potential.
These plans will become living documents that must not only be strictly adhered to, but also continually updated as necessary. Businesses will be well advised to comply with the guidance as they begin to prepare for reopening and document such compliance through the preparation of written plans.
For more details a link to the guidance is provided:
Guidance for Cleaning & Disinfecting
We expect that as businesses in New York State are permitted to re-open, more information will be provided about requirements that must be met to re-open safely and we will provide updates to clients accordingly.
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