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LinkedInDealing With COVID-19 in Agriculture and Home
The University of California has put together a series of publications on addressing COVID-19 in the home and the workplace. They can be found at: COVID-19 Guidelines
The individual articles are below:
Preventing Spread of COVID-19 in Households
Safety Gyuidelines in Agriculture During COVID-19
Food Safety Guidelines for COVID-19
Filing for Supplemental Pay During ShutDown
Take Care and Stay well.
And from CDFA:
Coronavirus Resources for Food and Agriculture page
BEST PRACTICES GUIDELINES
Food producers and manufacturers have been required by longstanding federal and state laws and regulations to prevent anyone who is sick or has a communicable disease from handling, processing or preparing food for human consumption. Thus, industries handling food and agricultural commodities are well practiced at this important and general principle of food safety and hygiene. It is important to follow recommendations as set forth by the CDC as well as those outlined below:
- Maintain diligence in good hygiene, monitor for employee illness, and adhere to social distancing guidelines as possible.
- Adhere to your Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP), ensuring that those supervising staff and operations are vigilant in their oversight.
- Ensure adequate frequency of cleaning and sanitizing per CDC Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection guidance.
- Adhere to cleaning and sanitizing frequency of restroom and other high contact areas.
- Consider ways for employees to easily identify themselves (business card, company ID badge) outside of business operations for ease in transportation to and from work while adhering to local ordinances.
According to both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) there is currently no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food or food packaging. The CDC is also reporting that, in general, because of poor survivability of the coronavirus on surfaces, there is likely a very low risk of spread from food products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures.
Labor is a vital component to the food supply, from farm to fork. California has among the highest standards for food safety, which includes worker health and hygiene standards supported by labor laws that are very specific about paid sick leave for those individuals that may be affected by COVID-19 and unable to work.
Transportation: Governor Newsom's Executive Order on transportation “to allow timely delivery of vital goods” is also an important part of this discussion.
For additional information and FAQs please visit:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.16.20_coronavirus-guidance_8.5x11_315PM.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.htmlhttps://www.usda.gov/coronavirus
Photo: San Luis Obispo landscape
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