Workplace Protection During COVID-19 |

Health precautions in the workplace are more important now than ever with customers rightly concerned if they will contract the virus should their products be contaminated. While it mainly only spreads from person to person according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it might still be possible to contract it through objects that are contaminated.

For that reason, we wanted to give you an inside look at our safety precautions and strict policies to keep employees healthy and products uncontaminated.

Here at BlueCotton, we have put together strict new policies in order to continue operating safely. All of our safety precautions have been thoroughly discussed in employee meetings and we have also communicated them through email and our clock-in system.

So what do they look like?

Employees Only

We currently do not allow any visitors or nonemployees to enter the facilities. We only ship to clients and are offering curbside pick-up.

We Take Temperatures

As employees arrive at work, we take their temperatures. If it’s above 100, we send them home immediately. This also applies to contractors and any other essential personnel. We also suspended our point system for calling in sick to work without a doctor’s note. Should any of our employees feel sick or were sick within the last 24 hours, they are banned from coming to work.

Wash Your Hands

According to the CDC, the best way to arm yourself against COVID-19 is to wash your hands. Therefore, we have a new policy that requires employees to wash their hands a total of five times during the day. They are required to wash their hands before they clock in and before clocking out as well as during morning and evening breaks and lunch. That is a total of five times in all.

Leave Doors Open

We are requiring employees to leave all internal doors open. As door handles collect a large number of germs, we hope that this will decrease the chances of spreading germs. The only door that does not remain open is the front door.

Social Distancing

We are fortunate to work in an environment where social distancing is possible. All of our work stations in the production facility are at least six feet apart. Congregating is not allowed and any rule breakers will be asked to leave. While this has not been an issue so far, we take this very seriously.

In the office area, all cubicles are also at least six feet apart and each one has a short wall, preventing people from facing each other directly or sitting side by side.

We also encourage people not to ride together if they leave for lunch.

Sanitization

Nitrile gloves and Clorox wipes are widely available throughout the facility. In addition, all of our equipment is subject to sanitization before the start of the first shift. We also added a 30-minute sanitization period in between the end of the first shift and the beginning of the second shift.

Daily Cleaning Schedule

Our cleaning schedule is also both rigorous and thorough. Below is what we do every day:

Production Facility:

Sweep and mop lobby hallway
Wipe down high touchpoints like handles and stair rails with a bleach/water combo as recommended by the CDC

Bathrooms

Toilets, sinks, and floors are cleaned daily as well as refilling soap, toilet paper, and paper towels

Break Room

Sweep and mop floors and wipe down all tables

Trash

Empty all trash from production, production bathrooms, production break room, and the front office break room.

Front Office:

Wipe down door handles/microwave/refrigerator door with bleach/water combo
On Tuesdays and Thursdays:
- Sweep front office hallway
- Vacuum front office carpet