This content is sponsored by Sun Design.
Check out our Job Site Precautions video!
Sun Design has been engaged in preparations for preventing and minimizing the spread of the Coronavirus. We take the risks associated with this virus very seriously. Our primary concern is the health and well-being of our team members, our trade partners, our families, and our customers. We want you to be aware that Sun Design is doing all we can to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus while we go about our daily responsibilities to manage the needs of our employees, trade partners and customers. Here is a summary of our efforts to date:
Workspaces: We define workspaces as our offices, trucks, and our clients’ homes. Our Coronavirus response activities are directed at all of these workspaces where applicable.
- In addition to our weekly janitorial cleaning services in our office facilities, there will be scheduled cleaning breaks 2x daily (4x for exterior doors/bathrooms).
- This includes disinfecting commonly touched items, such as bathroom fixtures, doorknobs, coffee stations, common area phones, conference room equipment/surfaces, fax/printer stations, light switches, kitchen equipment and alarm keypads.
- Office, Production and Trades Partners are required to wash their hands with soap and water (for 20 seconds) after use of the bathroom, blowing their nose or sneezing, and when entering the building, as well as using disinfectant wipes when in contact with public areas.
- Tissue will be available for all workspaces/job sites to prevent the spread of germs.
- Hand sanitizer is encouraged for all employees to keep in their vehicles to clean their hands when in contact with public areas.
- All household trash (including trash liners) will be removed from offices and the work areas of our client’s home each workday.
Job Sites: We are taking the following extra precautions at our clients’ homes.
- Interior projects where the client is living in the home:
- Following the best practices as set forth by the EPA for Lead Paint Containment, we will put plastic up to isolate work areas and will require everyone to sanitize their hands prior to entering and/or exiting the work area; this includes Sun Design staff, trades and our clients.
- We will use disinfectant to wipe down public workspaces and non-shared bathrooms 2x daily.
- We will be replacing return filters with HEPA filters
- We will rent a Port-a-Jon for each location when a non-shared bathroom is not available for use in the client’s home.
- An established hand washing/sanitizing station will be placed outside of each client’s home in the designated transition area.
- Interior projects where the client is not living in the home:
- We will require everyone to sanitize their hands prior to entering and/or exiting the work area; this includes Sun Design staff, trades and our clients.
- We will rent a Port-a-Jon for each location when a bathroom is not available for use in the client’s home.
- An established hand washing/sanitizing station will be placed outside of each client’s home in the designated transition area.
- We will use disinfectant to wipe down public workspaces and non-shared bathrooms 2x daily.
- We will be replacing return filters with HEPA filters
- Exterior projects:
- We will rent a Port-a-Jon for each location, which will include a hand washing station or hand sanitizer solution.
- We will require employees to wash and/or sanitize their hands throughout the day to prevent the spread of germs on public surfaces, as described under Workspaces.
- We will use disinfectant to wipe down public workspaces and bathrooms 2x daily.
- Additional precautions for all Interior/Exterior projects:
- Any worker (Sun Design and/or Trade) showing cold or flu-like symptoms will be sent home. These symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.
- Workers will be required to stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever (100°F or greater using an oral thermometer) coughing, and shortness of breath for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppressants).
- If a client is showing cold or flu-like symptoms, we may suspend work on their project until we are in agreement that they pose no risk to our workers and/or are no longer contagious.
- Any worker (Sun Design and/or Trade) showing cold or flu-like symptoms will be sent home. These symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.
Tele-work: We have identified all employees with the ability to work from home (either full and/or partial days).We will put in place a tele-work plan and are prepared to have employees work from home when guided by the state department of health, or the CDC. Telework protects in two ways. It reduces the number of team members in our office that could spread the virus, and it protects the workers at home by reducing their potential exposure.
- Should we go to a telework situation, our internal phones, and emails will automatically forward to our employee’s cell phones where they will be required to respond following our current policies.
- Employees that must meet with clients in person (or be onsite at a client’s home) will report to work throughout this crisis to maintain operations.
- If an employee is unable to fulfill this obligation, they must work with their supervisor to determine alternate strategies (i.e. virtual meetings, proxy staff).
Administrative Leave: Our current leave policy provides employees with paid leave to be used in the event of illness. We will work with each employee on a case-by-case basis if they are unable to perform the duties of their job and have exhausted their paid leave. We don’t want any employee to feel pressured to come to work ill out of fear of losing a paycheck. We have strongly advised all employees to stay home if they feel ill.
- In the event of a mandated quarantine by state department of health or the CDC, which requires Sun Design to close its offices, we will permit employees to have a leave deficit of up to 40 hours and we will work with employees to collect any pay reimbursements offered by the federal government.
Business Process changes: We have cancelled all large marketing events at clients’ homes that were to be held later this month. We will continue to monitor the situation for other scheduled events. We strongly believe in maintaining relationships with our customers, and business associates, but we consider this to be an extraordinary time that requires an extraordinary response. Please visit the events page of our website at https://www.sundesigninc.com/events for event updates, to include virtual home tours!
Thank you for your business. The Coronavirus has the potential to be a big disruption to our business and our nation’s economy. We are watching all of these events closely. If we all take prudent measures to care for our teams, we can continue to work, and stay healthy.
Craig Durosko, Founder & Chairman
Bob Gallagher, President
Sun Design Remodeling Specialists, Inc.
Check out our Job Site Precautions video!
