What Waste Collectors and Recyclers Need to Know about COVID-19
What steps should my employer take?
Employers should have a COVID-19 health and safety plan to protect employees,
following CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and
Employers.
This plan should be shared with you and your coworkers. Employers should:
Reduce transmission among employees

Take steps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 if an employee is sick. 
Actively encourage sick employees to stay home.
Sick employees shouldn’t return to work until the criteria to discontinue home isolation are met, in consultation with healthcare providers and state and local health departments.


Provide employees with accurate information about COVID-19, how it spreads, and risk of exposurepdf iconexternal icon. 
Be aware that some employees may be at higher risk for severe illness, such as older adults and those with chronic medical conditions. Implement specific policies to minimize face-to-face contact between these employees or assign work tasks that allow them to maintain a distance of 6 feet from other workers, customers, or visitors.
Provide employees training on proper handwashing practices, cough and sneeze etiquette, and other routine infection control precautions. This will help reduce the spread of many diseases, including COVID-19.


Provide employees access to soap and clean running water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers containing at least 60% alcohol at their worksite, which may include inside a vehicle.

Maintain a healthy work environment

Institute measures to physically separate and increase distance between employees and customers, such as: 
Rearrange workstations so that employees can stay at least 6 feet away from other employees.
Stagger shifts, start times, and break times to reduce the number of people in work and break areas at one time.
Remove or rearrange chairs and tables, or add visual cue marks, in employee break rooms to support social distancing practices between employees. Identify alternative areas to accommodate overflow volume.
Communicate through use of text messaging, phone, and email and personal mobile phones to communicate instead of face-to-face contact.
Cancel or postpone in-person meetings and trainings whenever possible. If you must meet, spread out to a distance of 6 feet or more between attendees.
If possible, limit waste collectors to one person per truck.


Place posters that encourage staying home when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette, and proper hand hygiene practices at the entrance to the workplace and in other workplace areas where they are likely to be seen.
Provide tissues and no-touch disposal receptacles for use by employees.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces within the facility or vehicle. If the surfaces are visibly dirty, clean them prior to disinfecting. To disinfect, use products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2external icon, diluted household bleach solutions prepared according to the manufacturer’s label for disinfection, or alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol, and ensure products are appropriate for the surface. Follow manufacturer’s directions for use. 
Clean and disinfect at the beginning and end of each shift, particularly if tools, workstations, or vehicles are shared among workers. 
In facilities, these may include shared equipment such as cart handles, knives or other tools, buttons, levers, and
In vehicles, these could include the steering wheel, gearshift, signaling levers, door handles, and seatbelt buckles.
Conduct frequent cleaning of employee break rooms, restrooms, and other common areas.
Require employees to clean out lockers nightly to facilitate overnight deep cleaning processes.


Provide disposable disinfectant wipes so that surfaces commonly touched can be wiped down.
Follow all applicable worker safety and health federal regulations and public health agency guidelines.

Maintain healthy business operations

Designate a person who is responsible for responding to COVID-19 concerns. Employees should know who this person is and how to contact them.
Consider using a hotline for employees to voice concerns anonymously.
Implement flexible worksites, such as telework, for staff who can perform their job functions remotely.
Implement flexible sick leave and supportive policies and practices. Consider drafting non-punitive emergency sick leave policies if sick leave is not offered to some or all employees. Employers should not require a positive COVID-19 test result or a healthcare provider’s note for employees who are sick to validate their illness, qualify for sick leave, or to return to work.
Provide information on who to contact if employees become sick. If an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19 infection, employers should inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Explore alternative other ways to promote hand washing if there is difficulty sourcing hand sanitizer and waste collectors and recyclers cannot utilize use public restrooms. For example, provide a large (5+ gallon) bucket with a lid and tap that can be used to provide water for handwashing. Buckets should we cleaned with detergent between uses. 
Maintain adequate supplies of water, soap, and single use paper towels on the truck.
Place hand sanitizers in multiple locations to encourage hand hygiene.