This document presents updated guidance on COVID-19 safety and health practices for Energy Efficiency (EE) workers, based on the most recent information available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Please note these guidelines and requirements may change over time, depending on national and/or regional conditions with regard to COVID-19.

Currently, the CDC evaluates the risks associated with contracting COVID-19 and becoming severely ill based on a combination of factors called “Community Level.” This Community Level rates the risk in each county in the United States as Low, Medium, or High. It is based on:

• New COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days
• Percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients
• Total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days

The Community Level rating is used by local health officials, companies, and individuals for making decisions about which prevention strategies to use to minimize infection risk. These strategies include staying up-to-date on vaccines, testing, wearing masks, and social distancing.

With this update, individual personal protective requirements, such as masks, will no longer be mandated for EE workers. Program administrators will continue to monitor Community Level risk and reserve the right to reinstate more stringent guidelines as conditions warrant.

If the Community Level in any county in these states where EE work is conducted becomes High, new Guidelines may be issued that may require certain measures to ensure protection of workers and customers. If and when such requirements are issued, it will be the responsibility of the contractor to confirm compliance of employees with these requirements.

IMPORTANT: All energy-efficiency work should be performed in compliance with applicable local and state COVID-19 orders and guidelines in effect at the time the work is done, if they are different from the Guidelines presented here.

IMPORTANT: Employees, contractors, and subcontractors are strongly encouraged to get vaccines and boosters, as recommended by the CDC.

The following administrative practices are required of all employees, contractors, and subcontractors:

Self-certification:
By coming to work, an employee is certifying they are not ill with COVID or hasn't had "close contact" exposure. (See Table 1)

Notification:
If a worker becomes ill with confirmed COVID-19 or had “close contact” exposure, they will inform their supervisor. Any ill or possibly exposed worker should follow the Quarantine and Isolation Guidelines in Table 1.

Note: Employees, contractors, and subcontractors are also required to abide by any additional notification protocols outlined by the program administrator they are servicing in the delivery of energy efficiency measures. In instances where a crew member tests positive for COVID, the contractor shall have an obligation to contact and notify any customers whom the crew member has been in contact with for the last 5 days.

Customer Pre-Screening:
Customers will be pre-screened regarding the COVID-19 status of people at the property. If a customer responds that someone has COVID now, has tested positive but did not have symptoms, or was ill recently, work should be rescheduled for a minimum of 10 days from the date of the COVID-positive test or from the date symptoms reportedly started.

Note: Additional precautions should be taken specifically for blower-door guided air sealing on multifamily properties. Blower-door testing may be performed on multifamily properties only when customer pre-screening can be conducted for all occupied units in the building, AND if all occupants report there are no symptomatic COVID cases present and no one has tested positive in the previous 5 days. In instances where pre-screening cannot be obtained for all occupied units, courtesy air sealing may be conducted without blower door testing.

Adherence to Customer Preferences:
All employees, contractors, and subs will implement any protective measures requested by a customer, such as wearing a mask, maintaining 6-foot distancing, and/or using hand sanitizer.

What Should You Do if You are Exposed or Test Positive?

[From CDC Recommendations - Updated March 30, 2022]

Definitions
Quarantine: Quarantine is what you do when you have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. You stay out of work and away from other people for a certain amount of time to make sure you don’t become ill. See QUARANTINE below for specific instructions.

What is “close contact”: Close contact happens when you are less than 6 feet away from a person infected with COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more over 24-hours. For example, three separate 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes in 24 hours is close contact. (It is not considered close contact if you are with someone who had COVID-19 but who has completed 5 days or more of isolation and has no symptoms.)

Isolation: Isolation is what you do if you are ill or test positive without symptoms. You must separate yourself from others, even at home. See ISOLATION on the next page for specific instructions.

Up-to-Date (with vaccinations): You are considered up-to-date if you have received two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, AND after those vaccines, you have had a booster when you were eligible.

QUARANTINE -- IF YOU WERE EXPOSED BUT ARE NOT ILL AND HAVE NOT TESTED POSITIVE

ISOLATION -- IF YOU HAVE CONFIRMED COVID-19 OR HAVE TESTED POSITIVE WITHOUT SYMPTOMS