What is COVID-19?
According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recent strain of coronavirus.
What is Coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease COVID-19.
What is a Pandemic?
The World Health Organization defines a pandemic as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.” In the simplest sense, a pandemic is an outbreak of a disease which occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population. A pandemic is not necessarily more deadly than an epidemic, it has just spread more widely.
Coronavirus FAQ’s
What are the Symptoms?
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell. Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. Around 1 out of every 6 people who gets COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. People with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.
How does COVID -19 spread?
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets.
What should you NOT do?
Do not spread misinformation of COVID-19. Make sure you are getting your information from credible and reliable sources. Many media outlets are just not providing all the facts. Keep yourself informed by going straight to the sources. You can find all the information you need about COVID-19 on the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html
or you can go to the WHO website: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus2019/advice-for-public
What can I do to protect myself and prevent this?
- Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
- Maintain at least 6 feet distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. Why? When someone coughs or sneezes, they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus.
- Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. Your hands can transfer the virus to these areas and make you sick
- Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.
- Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority.
Areas of Focus
- Final Mile Teams
- Office/Customer Care
- Warehouses & Distribution Centers
- All Personnel
Final Mile Teams
To ensure the well-being of our customers and Finale Mile Teams, you should be providing the following PPE for our valued contractors and their team members to wear during pick-ups and deliveries.
- Nitrile gloves • Booties to cover shoes
- Face masks • Hand sanitizer
- Disinfecting wipes
Final Mile Teams
To ensure the well-being of our customers we are asking that our Final Mile Teams adhere to the following guidelines to help maintain cleanliness when interacting with our customers.
Step 1: When the Final Mile Teams arrive at the customer’s home, they should put on shoe protectors right before they go into the customers home. These should be worn from the moment they enter to when they leave the customer’s home.
Final Mile Teams
Social Distancing Requirements include:
- Maintaining at least six-foot from customers
- Washing hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds as frequently as possible or use hand sanitizer
- Covering coughs or sneezes (into the sleeve or elbow, not hands)
- Regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces • Not shaking hands
Final Mile Teams
Step 2: After putting on the Shoe protectors, the Final Mile Team should use hand sanitizer to clean their hands of any germs. Make sure you are covering all surfaces of the hand and the wrist area.
Final Mile Teams
Step 3: Once you have properly sanitized your hands, Final Mile Teams should put nitrile gloves on both of their hands. This should be done from the moment they enter the home to when they leave the home. This will provide the customer ease of mind knowing that the Final Mile Team is protecting their furniture from skin contact.
Final Mile Teams
Step 4: Once you have put on your gloves, Finale Mile Teams should put face mask on, covering their nose and mouth.
Steps: Remove a mask from the box and make sure there are no obvious tears or holes in either side of the mask. Determine which side of the mask is the top. The side of the mask that has a stiff bendable edge is the top and is meant to mold to the shape of your nose. Determine which side of the mask is the front. The colored side of the mask is usually the front and should face away from you, while the white side touches your face. Face Mask with Ear loops: Hold the mask by the ear loops. Place a loop around each ear. Mold or pinch the stiff edge to the shape of your nose. Pull the bottom of the mask over your mouth and chin.
Final Mile Teams
Step 4: Final Mile Teams should be wiping down their dashboards and interior of the truck at least three times a day. Before they start, after their lunch and after last stop for the day. Also, it is important that you wipe the back of the truck’s door latch after every stop
Final Mile Teams
- Final Mile Teams should have spare shirts with them to avoid the visual of heavy perspiration that may create a concern for customers
- Final Mile Teams should wipe down their dashboard and interior of their truck three times a day.
- Sanitary wipes should be used pre-delivery on the latch of the truck, wiping it down. Postdelivery the Final Mile Team should use sanitary wipes to wipe down any doorknobs that were touched.
- The overall appearance of trucks should be well maintained. Trucks should be washed frequently so that we can easy our customer’s minds.
- Final Mile Teams need to be in good health and avoid allowing team members who are showing signs of any type of flu like symptoms from entering a customer’s home
AREAS OF GREAT CONCERN
EQUIPMENT
Cell Phone Hand Trucks 4-Wheelers Controls (Knobs, Handles, Steering): Dashboard
HIGH TOUCH POINTS
- Hand Tools Used
- Door Handles
- Rear Door Latch Start and End of Every Stop
- Rear Door Strap
- Liftgate Controls
- Strap buckles
- Customer Doorknobs Wipe Down Doorknobs & Light Switches Used By Final Mile Team When Exiting Residence Customer Light Switches
Warehouse Teams and Associates
All warehouse tools and equipment are required to be wiped down with disinfectant wipe or properly mixed bleach/water spray at the start and end of every shift and whenever these items are handed off to another team member including, but not limited to:
- Scanners • Walkie talkies
- 2-wheelers and 4-wheelers
- Pallet jacks (motorized and manual)
- Powered industrial trucks
- Hand tools
- Computers and printers
- Cabinets
- Etc.
Warehouse Teams and Associates
All warehouse common areas are required to be wiped down with disinfectant wipes or properly mixed bleach/water spray at the start, middle and end of every shift:
- Break rooms
- Restrooms
- Doors & doorknobs
- Light switches
- Phones
- Cabinets
- Counter tops
- Etc.
Hand sanitizer should be readily available to employees in the following areas:
- Break Rooms
- Returns Desk
- Picking Desk
- Prep Tables
- Assembly Tables
- Receiving Desk
- Personnel Doors
Employees should also wear nitrile gloves while assembling furniture and inspecting or touching any open product with their hands to eliminate skin to furniture or Product contact.
Warehouse Disinfection Checklist
Scanners
Walkie Talkies
Hand Trucks
4-Wheelers Controls (Knobs, Handles, Steering): Powered Industrial Trucks Trash Compactors
HIGH TOUCH POINTS
- Computer Monitors
- Computer Mouse
- Computer Keyboards
- Overhead Doors
- Doorknobs
- Light Switches Phones
COMMON AREAS
- Break Rooms
- Bathrooms
- Trash Cans
Office / Customer Care
Customer Care will be using the below talking points/scripts for pick-up and delivery confirmation questions concerning the Coronavirus:
Considering the recently reported COVID-19 Virus, our Delivery Professionals are taking a pro-active approach to ensure the health and welfare of both our customers and team members.
Some of the protocols we are taking are:
- Our delivery professionals are using hand sanitizers
- They also will be wearing protective gloves and booties
- Performing truck cleanings daily
Make sure to provide multiple areas in the office for employees to access hand sanitizers, Lysol, and Disinfectant wipes.
- Areas should be near: – Restrooms – Break rooms – Entry doors.
- Employees who are showing flu like symptoms OR any symptoms of being ill are being asked to work from home.
Break Room’s should be cleaned in their entirety at least 3 times per day. Once in the morning, following lunch and end of the day.
- Restrooms should be cleaned fully a minimum of 3 times per day. Making sure every touch point, faucets, handles, soap dispensers, knobs, toilets, toilet paper holder, paper towel holder, doors, etc. are all cleaned
- Door handles both inside and outside of the office should be cleaned.
- Copiers/printers and other common workspaces should be cleaned twice a day
- Personal desks should be wiped down before shift, after lunch break and before end of shift.
Office Disinfection Checklist
Walkie Talkies Headsets
HIGH TOUCH POINTS
- Computer Monitors Computer Mouse Computer Keyboards Office Desk Doors Doorknobs Light Switches Phones
COMMON AREAS
- Break Rooms Bathrooms Printers/Copiers Empty Trash Cans Entry Doors Handrails
Cleaning & Disinfecting
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces four times per day (recommended times –10:00 AM, 2:00 PM, 6:00 PM, 9:00 PM).
- This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks and high traffic areas.
- Thoroughly clean restrooms at least a minimum of 3 times per day
- If surfaces are dirty, clean them: Use detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.
Cleaning & Disinfecting To disinfect:
Most common EPA-registered household disinfectants will work. Use disinfectants appropriate for the surface.
Options include:
- Diluting household bleach. To make a bleach solution, mix:
- 5 tablespoons (1/3rd cup) bleach per gallon of water OR
- 4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water Follow manufacturer’s instructions for application and proper ventilation. Check to ensure the product is not past its expiration date. Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser. Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted.
- Alcohol solutions. Ensure solution has at least 70% alcohol.
- Other common EPA-registered household disinfectants. Products with EPA-approved emerging viral pathogens claims are expected to be effective against COVID-19 based on data for harder to kill viruses. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products (e.g., concentration, application method and contact time, etc.).
Cleaning & Disinfecting
How to clean and disinfect:
- Wear disposable gloves when cleaning and disinfecting surfaces. Gloves should be discarded after each cleaning. If reusable gloves are used, those gloves should be dedicated for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces for COVID-19 and should not be used for other purposes. Consult the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning and disinfection products used. Clean hands immediately after gloves are removed.
- If surfaces are dirty, they should be cleaned using a detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection. • Customer service: Empty trash, spray trash bin with Lysol, wipe down phones, computers, chairs and counters. Refill hand sanitizers.
- Front Entrance: Wipe and spray it down with Lysol. Wipe the front door handles with disinfectant wipes, mop front area up to the carpet, refill the hand sanitizer and Lysol spray the area when done.
Cleaning & Disinfecting
How to clean and disinfect:
- Breakroom: Clean it up, throw all the trash away, Lysol spray and clean the sink, counters, tables, water fountain, coffee machine and all appliances and wiped down, spray Lysol once done.
- Bathrooms: Empty trash, use bleach on toilets and sinks, wipe the counters and mirrors down, refill soap, toilet paper and paper towels, disinfect water fountains, mop the floors and Lysol spray the whole area when done. Also confirm Coronavirus signage is posted in the bathrooms.
- Walk to all terminals and desks and empty trash, spray trash bin with Lysol, wipe phones, mouse and computers down and spray Lysol.
- Walk the whole floor to make sure nothing was missed, depending on how the carpet is, vacuum it at least once a day. Dust furniture daily and clean all the glass and accessories.
- Before leaving work make sure to clean the bathrooms, breakroom, office, and walk the floor again to make sure everything is clean and sanitized
Cleaning & Disinfecting
- Clean common areas throughout the day
- Hand Sanitizer stations should be placed at the Entrance/Exit, Outside the Restrooms, Inside/Outside of breakrooms and at the point of sale area.
- Staff should be washing their hands at least every hour
- The checklist for cleaning the various areas in the store should be signed off on and submitted to appropriate leader.
Disinfecting Checklist
- Desktops Keyboards
- Mouse
- Computer Monitors
- Phones/Headsets
- Front Doors Doorknobs
- Light Switches
- Office Counter Tops
- Breakroom Bathrooms
- Tablets Pin Pads
- Empty Trash / Clean Cans
- Entry Doors Clean
- Pens
- Walkie Talkies & Earpieces
From all of us at NLI International Corp. to all of you, our Clients/Partners and Staff across Canada, our deepest thanks for your loyal support and PLEASE… BE SAFE AND KIND TO EACH OTHER.
