Temperature Screening Is Critical to Reducing COVID-19 Exposure at Essential Businesses

If you are an essential service business during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all counting on YOU to continue operating to help the country get through this public health crisis. We understand you are working your hardest, and protecting your workforce from falling ill is essential.

As some portions of the country enter the initial COVID-19 peak, keeping essential employees safe and well will be a significant challenge. The CDC and OSHA have provided guidance to employers to discourage employees from coming to work if they are sick or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. However, some companies in COVID-19 peak cities are taking a more proactive stance to keep sick employees away from the building by implementing temperature screening.

Proactively Identifying COVID-19 Symptoms

Companies have implemented temperature screening of all employees and contractors entering a building to proactively identify employees beginning to exhibit COVID-19 symptoms. This practice has been in place at many healthcare facilities for weeks, and we are beginning to see more non-healthcare essential businesses adopt it. Employee temperature screening generally occurs in the initial entrance the building – one entrance only – to identify anyone with symptoms before entering the work area. These policies reduce the likelihood that employees, with or without symptoms, will infect the rest of your workforce.

Start with a Risk Assessment

If you’re not a healthcare facility, you probably won’t have the equipment or infection-control professionals to set up and perform effective temperature screening. And if an infection occurs, you may not have the capability to quickly disinfect the area or aid to contain the spread.

For non-healthcare companies considering a temperature screening program, we recommend starting with a risk assessment to help design a process that will not inadvertently increase the risk of spreading the virus. Important factors to consider:

• Maintaining physical distancing (at least 6 feet)
• Protecting temperature screeners
• Handling someone with a high temperature
• Asking whether employees have taken fever reducers such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen
• Completing a questionnaire on other symptoms of COVID-19
• Disinfecting the space when required

Each employee temperature screening set-up will likely be different based on the layout of the physical location, type of workforce, volume and frequency of employee traffic, and resources available to help. Keep these risk factors in mind as you plan for a safe screening operation.

Triumvirate Environmental can help you get your arms around setting up a safe temperature screening operation. We can start with a risk assessment of your space, and then recommend a plan to customize a screening operation that keeps your employees safe and your business running.

To learn more, call us at 888-834-9697 or click below to send us your information, and we’ll get back to you.