Keeping You Safe: PLA Reopening Playbook August 2020 | Page 21

Policy for Workplace Face
Covering During a Pandemic
This policy applies to all employees without exception in the event of a pandemic or
similar health crisis.
Guidelines:
The health and safety of employees and scholars are our highest priority. All employees
are required to wear a mask, cloth face-covering, and/or face shield that covers his or
her mouth and nose at all times while in the workplace. The Center for Disease Control
(hereinafter “CDC”) guidelines serve as the basis for the school’s policy:
CDC recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings and when
around people who do not live in your household, especially when other social
distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
Cloth face coverings may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the
virus to others.
Cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are
widely used by people in public settings.
Cloth face coverings should NOT be worn by children under the age of 2 or anyone
who has trouble breathing, is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to
remove the mask without assistance.
Cloth face coverings are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory
droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing
the cloth face covering coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice. This is called source
control. This recommendation is based on what we know about the role respiratory
droplets play in the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, paired with emerging
evidence from clinical and laboratory studies that shows cloth face coverings reduce
the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth. COVID-19 spreads mainly
among people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet), so
the use of cloth face coverings is particularly important in settings where
people are close to each other or where social distancing is difficult to
maintain.
Make sure your cloth face covering:
fits snugly but comfortably against the side of the face
completely covers the nose and mouth
is secured with ties or ear loops
includes multiple layers of fabric
allows for breathing without restriction
can be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape
Any student with documented respiratory issues from a health professional
on file with the school nurse will have the option to be exempted from the
cloth mask expectation. We will work individually with the student to ensure
the student’s safety, as well as the safety of other students, faculty and staff.
Employees who wish to eat or drink may remove their mask or face shield to do so,
provided they are situated six feet away from others, perform the necessary hand
hygiene, and replace the mask when they are done.
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