Our New Site Visit Procedures To Control Coronavirus Spread

Given the current Coronavirus situation, Berg Compliance Solutions (“BCS”) has implemented the following procedures to be followed by our consultants during site visits to conduct safety inspections and provide training and related services.

These procedures are designed to help prevent the risk of Coronavirus spread from BCS consultant to client employees, and vice versa, and ultimately to assure our clients that BCS is committed to taking all necessary precautions to help prevent the spread of this new virus.

During site visits, BCS consultants shall follow these procedures:

Refrain from handshakes. Rather than shaking hands, BCS consultants may explain why handshakes can contribute to the risk of spread, and/or “fist bump” as a substitute.
Attempt to maintain a general 6’ distance between themselves and client staff. We realize that this will be challenging to follow at all times, and that successful implementation may be dependent on client site limitations, etc, however it is our intent to follow CDC guidance on maintaining 6’ distance.
Refrain from touching of client staff.
Refrain from and/or limit touching of client workplace surfaces including guardrails, desks, etc.

In addition to these on-site procedures, please be aware that Berg Compliance Solutions has implemented the following internal control and prevention procedures:

While working in our office, consultants must work at least 6’ from each other at all times (ie: while sitting at our desks, talking, conference table, etc.)

We have placed a Purell bottle at the entrance to our office which all employees must use to sanitize their hands prior to entering office, after every office exit.
Staff are encouraged to wash hands regularly with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds
Staff are instructed to not touch their faces
All business air travel has been suspended until further notice.
Staff are required to inform management immediately upon the onset of ANY new illness symptoms including cough, fever, fatigue, shortness of breath, etc. BCS recognizes that as part of our control and prevention efforts, it’s crucial to report any potential respiratory illness including flu, cold as well as Covid-19, because all of these illnesses create an impact on the Coronavirus situation.
- Any staff who present and report ANY symptoms will be advised to go home and contact their physician for further advice and will be prohibited from reporting to our office or client locations.

We realize that some of our clients may have already instituted policies prohibiting any external site visitors, and if so, please let us know.

Also please be aware that it is our intention to continue providing on-site health and safety services to our clients until conditions change or CDC or other relevant government agencies strongly recommend against, or prohibit such site visits.

By Russell Carr|2020-05-27T12:20:17-05:00March 16th, 2020|Good To Know, Government Regulation, OSHA Texas Laws & Regulations, Safety Training, Texas Environmental Regulations, Texas Hazardous Materials Regulations|Comments Off

About the Author: Russell Carr

How A Sales Guy Transformed Into An Environmental, Health & Safety Expert & Advocate For Small Businesses I've spent my entire 30+ year career working within the manufacturing and “industrial services” sectors. The first 15 years of my career focused on sales of hazardous materials related products and services to the manufacturing sector, then for the last 16+ years transitioned into entrepreneurship, founding 3 small industrial services related contracting businesses. As you’ll see below, running these companies eventually lead me to found yet a 4th business, but more on that in a minute…. Here’s a brief description of the first 3 companies: Berg Environmental Services, Inc.: hazardous waste disposal & transportation services, founded in August of 2003 3rd party wind energy operations & maintenance services provider to utility scale wind farms throughout the US, founded in September 2007 3rd party oil & gas exploration & production services provider, founded in August of 2011 Each of these companies operated in extremely dangerous working conditions and exposed my employees to a wide range of serious health & safety hazards on a daily basis. To complicate matters, 2 of the companies also exposed the environment to significant potential harm. In other words, I learned very early the critical importance of managing environmental, health and safety issues so as to ensure the safety of our employees and the environment, as well as minimizing related risks. But I also learned how incredibly difficult and challenging this endeavor can be due to the wide range of complicated and continually changing environmental, health and safety rules and regulations that impacted the companies. To summarize the challenges: First I had to determine which regulations applied to each company, then I had to build compliance programs to meet those regulations, and finally I had to ensure that the programs were being managed and followed by our staff on a daily basis. All while trying to run and grow 3 profitable businesses…. It was overwhelming and I always struggled to keep up. To make matters worse, throughout this time I also witnessed the devastating price that companies, management and ownership can pay for failing to manage EHS compliance. This included seeing one of my hazardous waste management clients get sent to jail over environmental issues, another client’s management team threatened with jail time, a direct competitor get fined $378,000 by OSHA fine after an employee was nearly killed, and many others face major fines and penalties. Full disclosure, one of my companies got fined by OSHA at one point, & another was cited by TCEQ, so I know how it feels. In summary, I learned first hand how incredibly difficult it is for small companies to manage EHS compliance due to a common lack of the critical expertise, time and resources that are needed to keep up, and how this situation then ends up exposing them to these potentially catastrophic risks that can literally destroy lives and businesses. This later inspired me to found my 4th company, Berg Compliance Solutions in 2012, which is dedicated to helping other small businesses, and business owners, to manage EHS compliance and risk. Education BA, Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, December, 1990. Summary of Professional Experience & Qualifications: 30+ years serving the manufacturing & industrial services sectors 30+ years of sales and marketing experience 16+ years as small business owner & entrepreneur: Founded and operated 4 small businesses since 2003. Environmental, Health & Safety Compliance & Program Related: 19 plus years of hazardous waste management including EPA, TCEQ & RCRA regulations 8 years of DOT/FMCSA compliance experience, including hazardous materials transportation 8 years of combined experience implementing and managing OSHA health and safety compliance programs for 2 high risk energy services businesses Successfully implemented and gained ISO 9001 Quality Management Certification and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Service) Certification for wind energy maintenance business. Regulatory Enforcement Related Experience: Served as expert witness in criminal environmental compliance enforcement cases Superfund-CERCLA OSHA enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in following industries: industrial services, manufacturing & construction. TCEQ enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in manufacturing.

Our New Site Visit Procedures To Control Coronavirus Spread