In the middle of the panhandle of Oklahoma, practically in nowhere USA, is the Seaboard Farms Pork Processing Plant. They have about 2400 employees at any one time working a variety of shifts working under the general supervision of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat Inspectors. They reported more than 400 employees that were positive with COVID-19, up from 109 cases just about 10 days prior, despite having taken increased precautions and prevention measures.
Make sure to check out our webinar, "Surviving Your Next Workers’ Comp Audit," on June 9 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, presented by Matthew Fulton & Lynda Artesani. Register here.
Last week they announced that they would begin on-going testing of personnel at the facility in conjunction with the Oklahoma State Department of Health because the number of cases far exceeded the overall average of infection for the state.
Meat and poultry processing facilities nationwide have seen extremely high rates of infection during the COVID-19 crisis since most of the attempted to remain open and operational to supply the country's mean demands; however, in many instances plants ended-up being shut down due to the number of infected workers within the workforce. Attempts to reopen plants after massive sanitation efforts also led to additional procedures designed to reduce risks and safeguard employees like installing barriers between workers, requiring face masks and shields, and taking worker temperatures before entering the plant.
The result of testing actually can be the opposite of what businesses hope for, instead of showing that workers are 'safe and clear' for work it may show that workers are 'positive for COVID-19' and should be sent home to self-isolate. Within the last week, while the total number of cases has grown within 'the community', the plant seems to have stabilized as a result of the testing and identification efforts that send 'sick workers' home before they can infect others even when those workers don't show symptoms or are not complaining of feeling sick.
While this sounds like a great plan for an employer with more than 2000 employees in a business where people are working on a meat-processing assembly line in such proximity of one another, you might be asking how does this apply to my SMB? The reality is that your SMB is just a 'fractional' operation of the Seaboard plant. You might have 1/10th the workers, say 200. You might have just 1%, only 20 employees. Regardless, if they all work in the same building at any time together, they are at risk, no matter what other precautions you put in place.
We talked a lot about precautions last week, but none of those are guarantees that 'the COVID-19' virus can't reach out and touch one of your employees if someone enters your facility with the virus. That someone could be a customer or client, it could be an employee, it could even be you.
Now as more than half the states have started lifting 'stay at home' orders and are allowing more and more businesses (of all kinds) to reopen, you have to wonder how you can keep your employees and yourself safe if you are all at work. Masks are fine, so are gloves, but they are not full-proof.
The reality is that 'testing and screening' is a way to help reduce risk, disease transmission and with that worker fear and thereby increase worker productivity. Right along with that you will reduce your liability and potential risk of a COVID-19 related workers' compensation claim.
The problem is that right now, except for tremendously large employers who have their own occupational health staff of physicians and nurses and who can afford the testing equipment, COVID-19 testing is not readily available to employers. Some states are starting to make COVID-19 testing available to any citizen who wants it (at no cost) at drive-up locations now that the initial surge of cases has declined (Oklahoma is one of those states as of last week). In other states, Occupational Health Services and Private Health Clinics may offer the 'Abbott Labs' COVID-19 Rapid test which may become the standard for this form of employer testing.
As for the test results, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently altered their rules which would have previously precluded employers from having access to an employees medical test results of this nature to specifically allow employers to have COVID-19 test results provided they test all employees, or if testing only certain employees it must be done when they exhibit specific symptoms associated with the disease. So for now it appears that COVID-19 testing will become at least one potential tool in the options that even SMBs have available to protect their personnel as we 'Reopen America'.
Make sure to check out our webinar, "Surviving Your Next Workers’ Comp Audit," on June 9 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, presented by Matthew Fulton & Lynda Artesani. Register here.