Sentant’s Safe Reopening Plan

Sentant is publishing this internal document publicly as a resource for our clients and others in the consulting industry. We have copylefted this document, it can be copied freely without attribution.

Safe Reopening Plan

As we proceed towards the reopening, we’d like to formalize our strategy for resuming on-site work for clients while still keeping our employees and customers alike safe.

Many of our team members are already in remote (or largely remote) positions, and of course will continue to work from home as usual.

For those who do conduct on site visits, we are establishing these guidelines based on the reopening phases in California and New York.

Phases 1 & 2 reopening

• On-site service is limited to emergencies and safe project work when absolutely essential to be on site.
• On-site service should only take place in offices with no or very few personnel present.
• Once remote connectivity is established and on-site presence no longer necessary, transition to remote work.
• Otherwise during these phases, we will continue only to provide remote support and services.

Phase 3 reopening

• Sentant will resume on-sites in cases where they are necessary or materially improve the speed or quality of work — such as onboarding — where physical setup of the laptop expedites the process.
• When planning site visits or projects, evaluate in planning how to do the on-site work and transition to remote as soon as feasible.
• Sentant will not work in offices with more than 20% of capacity present, or insufficient space to allow more than 6 feet between persons.
• We will work with our clients during the scheduling process to confirm social distancing and safety protocols.
• We will continue to prefer to do work remotely when possible, by setting up necessary on-site components and then leaving the site to complete work remotely.
• The Sentant office will remain closed. No in-person internal meetings or activities will be conducted.

Phase 4 reopening

• Sentant will resume regular on-sites as requested by the client, provided their offices have implemented sufficient safety procedures such as sanitization, distancing and reducing headcount present in-office.
• Realistically, we expect there will continue to be increased remote work. We will manage this on a client-by-client basis according to their needs.
• We will continue to monitor the situation and may suspend on-site work ahead of a formal order if an increase in new infections in the areas we operate occurs.

The Sentant PPE Kit

All Sentant personnel are being provided with a new Sentant-branded backpack loaded with personal protective equipment, including:

• Disposable Gloves
• Hand Sanitizer
• Cloth Masks and filtering inserts
• Surgical Masks
• Sanitizing wipes
• Thermometer

We have strived to find the highest quality PPE products that do not take away from stock preferred by medical personnel or first responders.

We strongly encourage everyone to use your PPE frequently and consistently! Let your manager know if you begin to run out of PPE, and we will provide more. We’ve included additional resources about using PPE and staying safe at the end of this post.

New On-Site Procedures

We ask that all Sentant personnel follow these guidelines when working on site:

• Daily symptom check. Check your temperature and overall health daily. If you are experiencing any symptoms of illness, or have been exposed to anyone with such symptoms: let us know immediately and don’t come to on-site work. Symptoms include fever, cough, chills, loss of sense of smell, headache, sore throat, muscle pain.
• Frequent hand washing and sanitizing. Thoroughly sanitize or wash hands often throughout the day, or after touching any surfaces touched by others. Follow WHO guidelines for effective handwashing.
• Disposable Glove Use. When working with others’ devices, such as helping a user on their laptop, wear disposable gloves, and remove them when work on that device is complete. Wash hands or sanitize afterwards.
• Practice social distancing. No handshakes or first bumps, we introduce ourselves with waves now! When on site, try to stay 6 feet or more away from other persons. Split up team tasks so each person can work independently distanced from the other.
• Wear a mask. Whenever working indoors or with others present, wear your mask. Avoid touching the outside of your mask, and sanitize your hands after removal.
• Report unsafe conditions & leave. If you see a situation at a work site where appropriate safety precautions aren’t being followed, or believe a situation places you at undue risk, immediately exit the premises and report to your manager.

The safety of our team and our customers takes precedence on all other concerns. We trust all of our team’s judgment and ask them to immediately exit any situation they believe might place them at risk.

Exposure Notification Procedure

While we hope we will never have to use these procedures, it is unquestionably our responsibility to notify anyone who might have been near a person infected while working with us.

We will be asking all clients to notify us if any persons known to be present in their office test positive for COVID-19. In turn, if anyone at Sentant is known to be or presumptively positive for SARS-CoV-2, we will immediately:

• Notify all client(s), including main contacts and all individual contacts, known to be in the presence of the affected person within the last 20 days.
• Move any Sentant personnel exposed to the affected person to remote-only work until two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests have been received.
• We will also notify all client(s) working with those Sentant personnel on-site in the last 20 days about the potential exposure.
• We encourage these personnel to immediately obtain testing and will reimburse any expenses not covered by our insurance plan related to obtaining COVID-19 testing.
• Notify any relevant local, state or federal authorities and provide information to assist in contact tracing.

Testing Reimbursement

If for any reason you wish to receive testing for COVID-19, including viral or antibody tests, we will reimburse all expenses incurred not covered by Sentant’s health insurance plan. Again, we ask you to stop any on site work and immediately notify us if you suspect you have been exposed.

Unlimited Sick Leave Benefits

Until further notice, we will be extending unlimited paid sick leave benefits to all employees.

If you do get sick or think you might be getting sick, don’t come to any on site visits! This means any symptoms vaguely resembling COVID-19: including fever, cough, chills, loss of sense of smell, headache, sore throat, muscle pain.

We’ve got your back.

Additional Resources

• California State Reopening Plan presentation with information on reopening phases
• CDC Etiquette guide for coughing and sneezing
• New York State reopening phases information
• WHO mask wearing instructions and guidelines
• WHO handwashing guidelines