COVID-19 SAFETY PLAN
COVID-19 Safety Plan
As per the safety guidelines set by the BC College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of British Columbia, the Provincial Health Organization and WorkSafe BC all clients must understand the safety protocols implemented at our office prior to their therapy session. These protocols were developed with the goal of reducing the risk of exposure to the virus that causes Covid-19 for the clients and therapists within our clinical setting. The Protocols will be updated as needed.
For up to date information about Covid-19 please visit the HealthLink BC https://www.healthlinkbc.ca and The BC Centre for Disease Control http://covid-19.bccdc.ca
- Cancellation fees will not be in effect for any cancellation due to illness.
Reception Area / Entry into Clinic Space
- Clients are asked to arrive on time for appointments.
- Non-medical masks are mandatory in the office for clients and family members. If you have a mask please bring it with you. If you do not have a mask, we can supply one for you. Your mask will be worn when entering the clinic and during you or your child’s therapy session.
- Appointment times are staggered to reduce the potential of clients and therapists crossing paths, and to allow for time in between appointments for enhanced cleaning.
Within the Treatment Room
- Everything in the therapy room will be thoroughly disinfected before each therapy session; the table(s), chairs, door handles, and light switches will be sprayed with a government approved COVID-19 disinfectant.
Informed Consent
In the current environment of Covid-19 risk, informed consent requires that the client be informed and understands that:
- Any speech and language therapy treatment involves some risk of COVID19 transmission;
- The therapist is following protocol to help reduce or mitigate risk where possible, but that risk cannot be reduced to zero;
- The client consents to the treatment despite some risk;
Your informed consent will be collected when you fill out your initial Consent form.
Cleaning and Hygiene
- We have reviewed the information on cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.
- Our workplace has enough hand washing facilities on site for all of our clinicians. Hand washing locations are visible and easily accessible.
- We have policies that specify when workers must wash their hands and we have communicated good hygiene practices to workers. Frequent hand washing and good hygiene practices are essential to reduce the spread of the virus.
- We have implemented cleaning protocols for all common areas and surfaces — e.g., tools, equipment, shared tables, desks, light switches, and door handles. This includes the frequency that these items must be cleaned (number of times per day) as well as the timing.
- Workers who are cleaning have adequate training and materials.
- We will maintain a minimum 2-week supply of plain soap, paper towels, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and masks, if possible.
- Our workplace will clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces at least twice a day (e.g. work stations, cell phones, door knobs, etc.)
- While the building has washroom facilities, we encourage you to use the washroom in your own home prior to coming in for your session.
- Clinicians and office staff will disinfect the washroom key after each use.
Hand Washing
Rigorous hand hygiene with plain soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) is the most effective way to reduce the spread of illness. Both staff and patients/clients can pick up and spread germs easily, from objects, surfaces, food and people. Everyone should practice diligent hand hygiene.
How to practice diligent hand hygiene:
- Wash hands with plain soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Antibacterial soap is not needed for COVID-19.
- If sinks are not available, use alcohol-based hand rub containing at least 70% alcohol.
- If hands are visibly soiled, alcohol-based hand rub may not be effective at eliminating respiratory viruses. Soap and water are preferred when hands are visibly dirty.
- To learn about how to perform hand hygiene, please refer to the BCCDC’s hand hygiene poster.
- Clinicians and office staff must wash their hands upon arriving for work, prior to each client session, after each client session, before and after breaks, after handling cash or cheques, before and after handling common tools and equipment (eg. ipads, computers, toys).
- Clients and client’s family members must wash their hands before and after each session.
Surface Cleaning
All high touched surfaces will be cleaned and disinfected between clients. High touch surfaces include, but are not limited to: Light switches, door handles, table surfaces, chairs and electronic devices.
Toy Cleaning
All toys and therapy materials will be cleaned and disinfected between clients.
Using Masks
- We have reviewed the information on selecting and using masks and instructions on how to use a mask.
- We understand the limitations of masks to protect the wearer from respiratory droplets. We understand that masks should only be considered when other control measures cannot be implemented.
- We have trained workers in the proper use of masks.
- The office manager will wear a mask when she is in the vicinity of any clients or clinicians.
Resources for Working from Home
Illnesses
Our illness policy addresses workers who may start to feel ill at work. It includes the following:
- Sick workers should go home immediately upon having any symptoms, even mild symptoms.
- If the worker is severely ill (e.g., difficulty breathing, chest pain), call 911.
- We will clean and disinfect any surfaces that the ill worker has come into contact with.
- All Speech Language Pathologists and office staff who have symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home and self-isolate.
- Speech Language Pathologists and office staff must assess themselves daily for symptoms of common cold, influenza, or COVID-19 prior to entering the clinic.
- Those unsure of if they should self-isolate should be directed to use the BC COVID-19 Self- Assessment Tool. https://bc.thrive.health
- If concerned, they are advised to contact 8-1-1 or the local public health unit to seek further input.
Other
- Our workplace policies ensure that workers and others showing symptoms of COVID-19 are prohibited from the workplace.
- We will ensure alcohol-based hand sanitizer (with at least 70% alcohol) is available at multiple locations: office entrance, waiting room, and by every therapy room for use before entering and upon exit.
- Staff will be provided with small bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizer (with at least 70% alcohol).
- We will limit use of shared items by patients (e.g. pens, clipboards, phones).
- We have removed difficult to clean items (e.g. toys) from the waiting area.
- We provide disposable tissues and no-touch waste receptacles in waiting area and therapy rooms.
- We provide plain soap and paper towels in our kitchen with clear instructions on hand hygiene.
- We have emptied therapy rooms of all but bare minimum of equipment (e.g. table and chair).
- We have instructed clients to avoid non-essential accompanying visitors, where possible.
- We will advise clients and accompanying essential visitors to practice diligent hand hygiene and cough etiquette.
- We have informed all clinicians and office staff the current cleaning and disinfection guidelines, including approved cleaning products.
- We make changes to our policies and procedures as necessary.
- Workers know who to go to with health and safety concerns.
- We have a training plan for new staff.