Mitigating Coronavirus Exposure Risks to Keep Essential Businesses Open and to Support the Reopening of Temporarily Closed Buildings

Across the United States, countless non-essential businesses and institutions have been temporarily closed. Others, deemed essential, have faced a myriad of challenges keeping their doors open and ensuring their employees and customers are safe. This has all been the result of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
 
For those businesses and institutions that have remained open, worksite safety, infection control, indoor environmental hygiene and response preparedness have become paramount. These all play key roles in employee, customer and building occupant safety during these unprecedented times.
 
As parts of the country prepare to reopen non-essential businesses and institutions in the near future, there are unique challenges ahead for many building owners and operators. This is due to the fact that many buildings were vacated on short notice, without enough time for the proper decommissioning of the building systems. A large number have also had minimal ongoing maintenance.
 
Because of this, buildings across the nation now have indoor environmental quality (IEQ) issues that should be addressed before people return. These include the possible presence of Legionella in building water systems that were stagnant for weeks, sewer gas and sewer pests that have infiltrated the structure as water evaporated out of p-traps and floor drains, mold and moisture due to HVAC system failures or systems that were programmed to operate under occupied conditions, and water damage due to plumbing failures or weather-related events that went unnoticed during vacancy to name just a few.
 
“COVID-19’s impact on businesses and institutions has created so many challenges that few could have envisioned just a few months ago,” said Derrick A. Denis, Vice President of Indoor Environmental Quality for Clark Seif Clark (CSC). “At CSC we have always helped customers and strategic partners prepare for, prevent and respond to disease outbreaks from Legionellosis, to MRSA, to Clostridium difficile. COVID19 is just the newest item on a long list. Our infection control and industrial hygiene experts provide education, personal protective equipment training, emergency response planning, 3^rd party verification of cleaning and disinfection protocols, environmental testing and more. These and other services are keeping essential businesses and institutions open and will allow others to get back to business soon.”
 
CSC also recently sponsored an educational video about reopening buildings after coronavirus that can be seen at: https://youtu.be/-NR4Bglu-2U
To learn more about this or other building science, infection control, industrial hygiene, indoor air quality, environmental, health and safety services, please visit www.csceng.com, email csc@csceng.com or call (800) 807-1118. 
 

About Clark Seif Clark
CSC was established in 1989 to help clients in both public and private sectors address indoor air quality, occupational, environmental, and health and safety (EH&S) issues.  CSC is a leading provider of these services with multiple offices along the western seaboard and southwest. The company believes in science-based protocols and has a strong background in engineering, making them the preferred environmental consultants to industrial clients, healthcare facilities, architects, schools, builders, contractors, developers and real estate professionals.
 

Contact Information

Paul Cochrane

President

Cochrane & Associates, LLC

Contact via E-mail