Photo | Courtesy of Sullivan, Garrity & Donnelly Insurance Agencies
Kerry Sullivan O’Keefe
May 19, 2020
Perform this COVID-19 risk checklist before you reopen your business
By Kerry Sullivan O’Keefe
With Gov. Charlie Baker now rolling out his plan for re-opening the Massachusetts economy, small business owners are anxiously awaiting word from state and local governments on when they can safely open their doors. Yet, everyone realizes it will not be business as usual. Safely restarting your business will not be as simple as unlocking the front door and turning on the lights.
To protect customers and employees alike, it will be important for organizations to do their due diligence before opening their business back up. COVID-19 will still be a threat to operations. Some businesses such as hair salons, nail salons, spas, gyms, bars and restaurants have more exposure than others due the close contact with other people. Prior to beginning operations business owners should review guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), state and local agencies, industry associations as well as their local health department.
Before reopening, businesses should perform a risk assessment to determine what steps should be taken to protect both their employees and customers. Steps of a risk assessment include:
Identifying the hazards
- Walk through your facilities – where are your high risk areas? Where do people congregate?
- What tasks will your staff be performing and is there a risk of exposure?
- Who in your work force is most at risk? Who has pre-existing conditions?
Assessing the risk
- How likely is the risk to occur?
- What could the ramifications be? Financial loss? Compliance requirements? Reputational harm?
Controlling the risk
- Where can you eliminate the risk altogether?
- What preventative measures can you take, such as cleaning protocols, disinfection of your facilities?
- Do you have protective gear for your staff? If you provide PPE are workers trained on best practices?
- Can you reconfigure your work space to increase physical distancing? Do you need to install physical barriers?
- Can you reduce employees at the location by allowing work from home or staggering employee’s hours?
- Do you have a clear sick leave policy?
- Can you transfer the risk to a third party? Check with your insurance professional to confirm you have general liability, workers compensation, employment related practices coverage and cyberliability coverages in place.
Business owners will need to monitor the results of the risk assessment and be adaptable. They should be prepared to change business practices if needed to maintain critical operations. Risk management is an ongoing and evolving process. Once a risk management solution has been implemented, it should be monitored for effectiveness and when possible adapted to create better solutions. In fact, as the COVID-19 risk changes, business plans will need to change as well.
Business owners should talk to their partners and vendors about their response plans and share their own. Owners can share best practices with other businesses in their community and especially with those in their supply chain.
The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and industry associations are working to assist businesses in reopening and can be a great source of information on risk mitigation. OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention websites offer business workplace controls to consider when the risk assessment determines that COVID-19 poses a threat to a business’ employees or customers. Before reopening, it’s critical to seek the expertise of professionals and your trusted advisors to ensure a safe transition.
Kerry Sullivan O’Keefe, CIC, is a principal at Sullivan, Garrity & Donnelly Insurance Agencies in Worcester, a family-run insurance agency serving customers for nearly 100 years.
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