For more than a year, businesses have been struggling to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most companies have created a COVID-19 safety action plan. (If you haven’t yet, it can still be beneficial.) While these organizations have developed protocols to keep employees and customers safe so that they can continue to do business, the Delta variant has created an even more difficult situation for many companies.
In this post, we’ll look at some of the ways that you can adjust your COVID-19 action plan in light of the Delta variant.
What Is the Delta Variant?
Like most viruses, COVID-19 has been evolving as it spreads throughout the world. Sometimes, evolutions like these lead to variant strains of the original virus, which can then become the dominant strain.
The Delta variant is a more infectious version of COVID-19, and it has quickly become the predominant version of COVID in the U.S. and throughout much of the world.
Because this variant is more contagious and is able to bypass some immune responses even in vaccinated individuals, companies need to modify their approach to COVID-19.
How to Adjust Your COVID-19 Action Plan
There are a few ways you can alter your company’s response to COVID-19, which include:
Vaccinations
Vaccinations should be the first step in any COVID-19 action plan. Vaccines help to slow transmission and prevent further variants from emerging. In addition, even when vaccinated individuals become infected with the Delta variant, the resulting illness is usually less severe than it would be in an unvaccinated individual.
While many companies are focusing their efforts on encouraging employees to get vaccinated, even making vaccines readily available, others are going a step further. For example, some companies have started to mandate the vaccine or regular testing in order to return to work.
Now that Pfizer’s vaccine has been approved by the FDA, this option is likely to become increasingly attractive for business owners.
Look at the Data
The number of COVID-related statistics that a business owner might read about can be dizzying. When it comes to whether to return to the office, however, the most important statistic is local transmission rates. Areas with relatively low rates should feel relatively comfortable returning to in-person work.
But if your local rates are high — or if they start to increase — you should consider lowering the number of workers who are physically present in your facilities. Instead, consider a hybrid model, with employees splitting time between home and office or staggering schedules to avoid overcrowding the workplace.
Masks
The CDC is still recommending that all unvaccinated individuals continue to wear masks while inside. However, an increasing number of cities and states are bringing back universal masking requirements. Some employees are taking it upon themselves to wear a mask no matter what the local laws advise.
As you’re deciding on a mask policy for your business, make sure to consider not just the federal, state, and local orders but also the needs of your workforce. For example, if your employees don’t feel comfortable working in an area with unmasked individuals, you may need to consider instituting your own rules when possible.
Ventilation
One of the most difficult changes you can make is to improve your workspace. These changes can be expensive, as they may require business owners to retrofit their existing systems to provide better filtration. However, this step is beneficial for preventing COVID—but it can also help make your office healthier as a whole.
How Safety By Design Can Help
At Safety By Design, we want every workplace to be safe and healthy. So we’ve put together a comprehensive free COVID-19 action plan that you can download to help you establish custom protocols.
Simply insert your company’s name in the placeholders and adjust the plan to fit your organization’s specific needs. With this template, you can keep your action plan up-to-date with the latest recommendations from the CDC. If you have any questions about your free action plan, contact us today!
