HANCOCK COUNTY — Workers in the county have been getting back to work more and more over the past couple of weeks.
But it’s been far from business as usual. When Indiana commenced Stage 2 of its Back on Track plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it came with lists of guidelines for workplaces in various industries to follow as restrictions started to ease and reopenings began to be allowed. From masks to staggered start times, there are plenty of things employers should be providing and employees should be expecting.
Not just another
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day at the office
Among the guidelines the state suggests for office settings are ensuring 6 feet of distance between employee work stations. If that’s not possible, they should create barriers between work spaces. They also call for maintaining at least 6 feet between guests and employees. Sanitizing supplies should be provided in common areas, and high-contact surfaces and items should be disinfected regularly. Employers should also allow as many workers as practical to work from home when possible; limit the number of in-person meeting participants; and require hand-washing and face coverings.
McCordsville Town Hall is now open to the public 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, although its community room, park and shelter remain closed. Visitors must wear masks in the building and sign in in case contract tracing is needed for any related COVID-19 cases tracked to the building.
Tonya Galbraith, McCordsville town manager, said officials will evaluate opening further in the future.
“I’m a pretty strong believer in the ‘public’ part of public service, and it’s hard to do that if you’re closed,” she said. “But we are very cautious, though… We wanted to do it in kind of a phased way.”
Town hall hasn’t been getting a lot of traffic, Galbraith continued, adding many utility customers pay their bills through the building’s drop box or online, both of which are available 24 hours a day. The utility office has a service window providing a barrier and separation between employees and customers. McCordsville’s process for various permits is also digital now, negating the need for people to stop by and drop off associated paperwork.
About 10 employees work in town hall, not including the police department. Employees wear masks when they’re out in the field and when they meet with visitors to the town hall, Galbraith said. They also wear them when they meet with colleagues, but otherwise most individual work spaces are socially distanced as is, and plenty of remote work is still occurring. Staff members are frequently disinfecting high-touch areas like door handles and light switches as well, and there’s plenty of hand sanitizer to go around.
“I’m looking forward to the time when we can get back to normal, whatever that means,” Galbraith said.
The Vernon Township trustee’s office in Fortville, where five employees work, is remaining closed to the public for the time being. Florence May, township trustee, said staff have been holding and attending meetings using videoconferencing over their computers and smartphones.
“From one perspective, I hate that we’re not sitting, talking to people face to face,” May said. “On the other hand, it’s very nice when meetings run till 10 o’clock at night, to already be home,” she added with a laugh.
Plenty of work continues to be accomplished from home, and when colleagues do need to be in the office together, they’re in separate areas, May continued. Door handles and tables don’t go long without a disinfecting, and employees wash their hands often. Signing up to work in the township’s community garden can now be done online at vernontownship.us. No more than 10 green thumbs can work in the garden at a time, and there’s a bottle of disinfectant at the gate.
Applying for financial assistance from the township is now done online as well. May said that was a challenge at first, as up until recently it had been required to be done in person.
“It will be interesting to see if we are able to continue that, because I think there are enormous efficiencies in that,” she said.
The staff of seven at HRM Insurance Services, Inc. in New Palestine had been working remotely since mid-March, said Brent Robertson, one of the company’s owners. Now they’re back in their offices with plenty of space between one another.
“Social distancing kind of happens automatically in here because we each have our own office,” Robertson said.
Employees are asked not to come in if they’re not feeling well, he continued, adding the office has plenty of cleaning materials and hand sanitizer.
Robertson said the office typically has walk-in traffic, but hasn’t had much lately, and that masks are available if needed.
A different kind of factory floor
The state’s suggested guidelines for keeping COVID-19 at bay in manufacturing and industrial environments include developing a protocol for screening employees before they commence work, closing regularly for deep cleaning, using face coverings and changing shift patterns when possible to reduce exposure of employees. They also call for 6 feet of distancing between employees when possible and installing barriers or making other accommodations when that’s not possible.
BWI Group’s auto parts manufacturing facility in Greenfield temporarily laid off 336 workers in March due to the pandemic. Peter Spratt, BWI Group’s plant manager in Greenfield, said the facility is working toward resuming operations now that its customer, Ford Motor Co., is ramping back up again.
“We’re tied at the hip to what Ford is doing, particularly in Louisville,” Spratt said. “So when Louisville starts up, we need to start up to keep them supplied.” (Ford operates two assembly plants in the Kentucky city.)
He added BWI employees in maintenance and engineering along with team leaders and operational staff have been hard at work at the plant. Equipment is being checked and tested as well.
The plant plans to bring back some hourly workers next week, after Memorial Day, Spratt said. It’ll likely run one shift the week after that, depending on customers, then start up the second shift the week after that. Spratt said he’s not yet sure when the plant’s third shift will resume, explaining it depends on customer demand.
BWI employees will get their temperatures taken upon their arrival, wear masks at work and receive counseling on social distancing, Spratt continued. Their start times will also be staggered so not too many come in at one time. Deep cleaning has been done throughout the facility as well.
Spratt also said the company has identified a few positions in the assembly work area that are less than 6 feet apart and is looking into barriers as a solution.
New rules for restaurants and retail
Requiring non-surgical masks for employees, limiting seating to 50% capacity, spacing seating at least 6 feet apart and requiring frequent employee hand-washing are a few of the things the state says eateries should be doing at this point in the pandemic.
Libby Wyatt determined it was too difficult to accomplish the spacing requirements at her business, Libby’s Ice Cream & Gifts in Fortville. The shop continues to let customers order from a counter near the entrance manned by masked and gloved employees.
As a food service establishment, hand-washing has always been important, Wyatt said.
“We really impress on it,” she said. “Now we impress on it more.”
Libby’s recently received a shipment of personal protective equipment from a new marketplace offered by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. The program offers equipment to businesses and nonprofit organizations with fewer than 150 associates in the sectors of retail, restaurants, personal services and office environments. Bundles are based on size and include masks, face shields and hand sanitizer. More information is available at backontrack.in.gov/ppemarketplace.htm.
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To read all of the industry guidelines for Back On Track Indiana, visit backontrack.in.gov/industryguidelines.htm.
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The state is entering the third phase of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s “Back on Track” plan, which means more activities will be allowed to resume. In the Weekend edition, the Daily Reporter will look at preparations for the next phase in the reopening and what it includes.
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The state has set up a marketplace to offer personal protective equipment to businesses and nonprofit organizations with fewer than 150 employees in the sectors of retail, restaurants, personal services and office environments. More information is available at backontrack.in.gov/ppemarketplace.htm.
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