Roadmap to Recovery

Aerial photo of Student Services Center and Campus

We're currently at Phase 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 for recovery.

Under Phase 2 conditions, use of buildings is limited. Telework is the preferred choice for as many employees as possible. And instruction is mostly remote with limited on-ground programs and services.

SMC COVID-19 Roadmap to Recovery

For employees that are returning to on-ground, in-person work, three things are key: training, education, and safety controls. 

This is a living document; the college regards health and safety as the highest principles and will adopt an evidence-based risk management approach to guide decisions. Santa Monica College is putting safety first. SMC employees and students will return to their work areas and classrooms in a multi-phased approach.

These five phases were developed based on the current guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the California Department of Public Health, Cal/OSHA (The Division of Occupational Safety and Health), Cal OES (Office of Emergency Services), and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, among others.

As we learn more, institutional plans and guidance will be updated. This article was last revised on 8/14/20.

 

 

Employee Guidelines for Recovery

This document provides guidelines to facilitate the safe return of employees to workspaces. This plan sets out procedures, protocols, and guidelines to promote the health and safety of the campus community. 

These measures rely on guidance from local and national health authorities, including the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  This plan has been approved by the College’s Emergency Operations Team (EOT). 

All employees are required to follow these guidelines. 

 

 

COVID-19 Containment, Response and Control Plan

This plan describes the college’s comprehensive approach to preventing and containing the spread of COVID-19 on campus.

 

 

LA County Department of Public Health Guidelines

Employee Symptoms Checklist required daily when working on-ground

PPE Supply Request Form (PDF)

COVID-19 Operations Plan Guide

COVID-19 Department Specific Safety Plan

Glossary of Terms

Alternating and Staggered Work shifts: Alternating and Staggered work shifts are a temporary change in work shifts in order to reduce the amount of contact employees have with other employees. There might be changes in the days worked, the schedules worked, or the amount of hours per day worked.

As Needed Employees: As needed employees are employees that need to return to campus once or twice a month. This refers to performing actions such as picking up mail, visiting their office to pick-up supplies, etc.

Asymptomatic: Presenting no symptoms of disease. (With COVID-19, a small percentage of patients with active infection may be completely asymptomatic.)

Center for Disease Control (CDC): As the nation's health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health, safety, and security threats.

Close Contact: For COVID-19, a close contact is defined as any individual who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.

Contact Tracing: Contact tracing is used by health departments to prevent the spread of infectious disease. In general, contact tracing involves identifying people who have an infectious disease (cases) and their contacts (people who may have been exposed) and working with them to interrupt disease transmission. For COVID-19, this includes asking cases to isolate and contacts to quarantine at home voluntarily.

Contact tracing for COVID-19 typically involves:

  • Interviewing people with COVID-19 to identify everyone with whom they had close contact during the time they may have been infectious
  • Notifying contacts of their potential exposure
  • Referring contacts for testing
  • Monitoring contacts for signs and symptoms of COVID-19
  • Connecting contacts with services they might need during the self-quarantine period

Cough Guard: A cough guard or sneeze guard is an acrylic or glass screen designed to protect food or people from the exposure to respiratory droplets, which are dispensed when coughing, sneezing or even talking.

COVID-19: COVID-19 is a disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus. 'CO' stands for corona, 'VI' for virus, and 'D' for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as '2019 novel coronavirus' or '2019-nCoV.'

Disaster Service Worker: The State of California Disaster Service Worker (DSW) Program includes all public employees impressed into service by a person having authority to command the aid of citizens in the execution of his or her duties during a state of war, a state of emergency, or a local emergency. In an emergency, non-essential public employees (those that are not required for continuity of operations) may be released from their usual duties so that they can be reassigned to assist any agency or organization carrying out its emergency response duties.  Employees acting as DSWs will be assigned duties within their scope of training, skill, and ability.

Essential Personnel: Essential Personnel are generally defined as the staff who are required to report to their designated work location to ensure the operation of essential functions or departments during COVID-19 or when the college has suspended operations. These areas include Campus Police, Maintenance and Operations, Fiscal Services, Human Resources, and other departments needed as deemed by the institution. 

Face Covering: Cloth face coverings may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others. Wearing a cloth face covering will help protect people around you, including those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and workers who frequently come into close contact with other people (e.g., in stores and restaurants). Cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings. The spread of COVID-19 can be reduced when cloth face coverings are used along with other preventive measures, including social distancing, frequent handwashing, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces.

Face Mask (N95): A protective mask covering the nose and mouth or nose and eyes. N95 is NOT necessary in the workplace and that they should be reserved for medical and first responder personnel who are in consistently close contact with presumed positive or positive COVID19 victims.

Face Shield: A mask, typically made of clear plastic that protects the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth during patient-care procedures and activities that carry the risk of generating splashes of blood, body fluids, excretions, or secretions.

Hand Sanitizer: Hand sanitizer, also called hand antiseptic, handrub, or hand rub, is an agent applied to the hands for the purpose of removing common pathogens (disease-causing organisms). Hand sanitizers typically come in foam, gel, or liquid form. Their use is recommended when soap and water are not available for hand washing.

On-Ground Activities: Activities that physically take place on college property where face-to face interactions may occur.

Pandemic: A pandemic is defined as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people”.

PPE: Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as "PPE", is equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that cause serious workplace injuries and illnesses. These injuries and illnesses may result from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards. Personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits.

Presumed Positive: Presumed positive is either when a person is showing symptoms of a disease but has not been tested yet, or is showing symptoms of a disease but had a negative or inconclusive test result. People who are presumed positive should quarantine for 14 days.

Quarantine: separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms.

Screening: Screening means a series of questions will be asked to determine a person's risk for COVID-19. They include questions about symptoms, travel history in recent weeks, and exposure to someone who has been confirmed to have COVID-19. 

Self-Isolation: separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.

Social Distancing: Social distancing is the practice of increasing the space between individuals and decreasing the frequency of contact to reduce the risk of spreading disease (ideally to maintain at least 6 feet between all individuals, even those who are asymptomatic). Social distancing strategies can be applied on an individual level (e.g., avoiding physical contact), on a group level (e.g., canceling group activities where individuals will be in close contact), and on an operational level (e.g., rearranging chairs in the dining hall to increase distance between them.)

Symptomatic: Having the symptoms of a disease. 

Synchronous and Asynchronous: Synchronous learning is online or distance education that happens in real time, whereas asynchronous learning occurs through online channels without real-time interaction.

Vulnerable Employees: Vulnerable employees are employees at higher risk for severe illness. This includes older adult employees and employees with specific underlying medical conditions.