Practical Strategies and Tools for Use by Occupational and Environmental Medicine Departments during COVID-19 Pandemic Surges

Abstract

Objectives: Occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) departments in healthcare institutions can be quickly overwhelmed when COVID-19 infection rates rapidly and simultaneously increase in the workforce and the patients served. Our goal is to present a detailed toolkit of practical approaches for use by front-line OEM specialists to address workforce management tasks during pandemic surges. Methods: Specific focus is on tasks related to employee symptom triage, exposure risk assessment, workplace contact tracing, and work restrictions. Results: Tools include strategies used by customer call centers, two decision support algorithms (exposure due to cohabitation or non-cohabitation), a color-coded employee case tracking tool, a contact tracing protocol, and documentation templates that serve as memory aids for encounters. Conclusions: These tools are created with commonly used software. Implementation is feasible in most front-line OEM settings, including those with limited resources.