General Guidelines and Expectations
- Here are two pages that address general COVID-19 concerns:
https://hr.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus
https://safetyservices.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus - Any employee who begins to have COVID-19 symptoms, or who lives with someone who begins to have COVID-19 symptoms, within two weeks of being in a campus building, must immediately report this to their chair and campus Safety Services:
https://safetyservices.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/reporting-positive-test-covid-19 - Such employees must not return to campus until advised to do so. We expect that central campus will develop the procedures for enabling the return to campus for such employees.
- Under no circumstances should any employee be pressured to come to campus. This should be communicated to employees and supervisors directly.
- Every employee working on campus will be expected to follow the Phase 1.x procedures that are being established for each unit. Chairs will make these procedures widely known in their unit.
- Procedures should minimize the switching in/out of personnel designated to perform a specific task. If this is necessary, the chair should be notified at least one day in advance.
- All personnel participating in time-sensitive research activities as part of Phase 1.x must track the days they enter buildings, as well as the time in/out, in a Google spreadsheet or equivalent. Records may be requested from the PI’s by chairs or directors at any time. Departments/units are encouraged to use Google forms for logging entry/exit times for their building(s) so that the information is centralized for contact tracing, should it become necessary.
- These guidelines apply only to research activities. Those coming in to campus for teaching-related activities should continue as before.
- Finally, the Phase 1.x exercise is based on an “honor system” and its success will depend entirely on the degree to which there is compliance. The chair/director will be responsible for making the procedures known to the members of their unit, but will not be responsible for their enforcement.
Recommendations Specific to Lab Usage
- Researchers will be expected to sanitize all surfaces prior to and after touching instruments. Ideally, sanitization supplies will be placed near the lab doors, making it convenient to wipe doorknobs before entering. If a sink is available in a person's workspace, the person should wash hands immediately upon arrival.
- The department and/or a PI will ensure availability of sanitizing supplies and masks for their researchers. If there are issues preventing this, they will need to be sorted out before work resumes.
- A person who uses space or equipment touched by someone else must carry out appropriate disinfection measures as described in the Phase 1.x plan for that unit.
- For safety reasons two persons may need to be present for some procedures. When possible one person should carry out the task while the other observes from at least 10 feet away.
- If an employee becomes aware of a violation of procedures, that person should immediately report it to the chair. The chair will make the central campus aware of these violations, but will not take any disciplinary action in the matter.
If you have any questions, please direct them to:
Jared Shaw, chair, Department of Chemistry chem-chair@ucdavis.edu
Mani Tripathi, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies ResearchLSAD@ucdavis.edu