In a previous post, we discussed why labor management software is more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic; in this post, we present six COVID-19 screening questions you should ask your employees before they work. We also discuss how and why these questions important for maintaining the health of your staff – and of your business.
Dealing with COVID, from 2020 to 2021
We’re excited it won’t be much longer until 2020 is finally over. We’re crossing all our fingers and toes that 2021 will bring everyone much better times. Unfortunately, the ending of COVID-19 is less of a sure thing. It probably won’t be as simple as buying a new calendar. For now, we’ll just have to keep doing what we can to keep ourselves and others safe and healthy.
As a business operator, you have a responsibility to your employees and customers to do your part to prevent spreading the virus. This means carrying on with sanitizing high-traffic areas and surfaces, social distancing as much as possible, wearing masks, and keeping potentially infected employees home. Temperature checks and COVID-19 screening questions are great solutions that can help accomplish that last point.
Body temperature screening is one simple and effective practice that can help you keep sick employees home. Fever is a common symptom of COVID-19, so you would be wise to keep an eye out for it. By checking your employees’ temperatures, you can make sure they aren’t running a fever before you let them clock in. However, you must also consider the fact that COVID-19 presents with a wide variety of symptoms. Fever isn’t always one of them. This is why you should improve your screening practices by requiring employees to answer a COVID screening questionnaire in addition to having their temperature checked. We won’t be able to prevent 100% of exposures, but combining these two screening practices makes a decent safety net.
COVID-19 Screening Questions
If this all sounds overwhelming, don’t worry. Screening for COVID-19 with temperature checks and questionnaires doesn’t have to be complicated. You only need to follow up your temperature checks with questions to help identify potential exposures. To help you keep your employees and customers safe, here are 6 COVID-19 screening questions you can check before each shift:
- Do they have fever?
(This is where your temperature screening comes in. Have employees check their own temperature at home, or a screener can check it when they arrive on location. Just be sure your screener takes the necessary precautions!)
- Are they experiencing any other common COVID-19 symptoms?
(These include coughing, shortness of breath, sneezing, congestion, loss of sense of taste or smell, and sore throat. These aren’t the only symptoms, but this list covers most of your bases.)
- Have they tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days?
- Have they been tested for COVID-19 and are waiting for results?
- Do they live with someone who is ill?
- Have they come into contact with anyone with COVID-19 or symptoms in the past 14 days?
Each of these six questions will help you protect your employees and your business by identifying high-risk individuals before they set foot on the restaurant or retail floor.
Take Advantage of Health Screening Features
Unfortunately, no one knows how soon COVID-19 and everything that’s come with it will be going away. As many of us are aware, temperature screening is already required in some places. We can’t be sure that there won’t be new workplace regulations to help control the virus in the future. Why not be proactive while doing everything in your power to protect your employees and customers? Starting new screening practices or improving existing ones can help control the spread and prepare for possible future screening requirements.
TimeForge can help you make this happen! Our labor management software now supports temperature tracking and will soon support additional screening questions. You now have the option to prompt your employees to enter their body temperature when they clock in. You can choose which locations and departments will have access to this feature. It works with the web app and our biometric time clocks.
Current TimeForge users can learn more about this feature and how to set it up in this how-to guide. Don’t have TimeForge yet? Click here to learn about all the other ways our labor management software can save your business time and money!
