While insurance policies might not cover the mitigation or cleanup costs related to commercial facility exposure to the coronavirus, preserving a healthy and safe place of business remains a critical risk management issue.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread rapidly around the world, it’s important to know what to do if someone carrying the highly contagious virus comes in contact with any of your facilities or those of your customers. Even the potential of your business premises being exposed to COVID-19 can create a possible need to engage risk mitigation efforts. Understanding the importance of utilizing a professional, credentialed decontamination contractor both before and after facility exposure is crucial to protecting your business.

“COVID-19 has presented new challenges for businesses around the world, and it’s necessary to understand the importance of ensuring the safety of all employees and customers,” said Larry Thomas, global president of Crawford Specialty Solutions, a division of Crawford & Company that includes Contractor Connection. Contractor Connection, an industry leader in managed repair services, provides insurance carriers, brokers and consumers a global network of more than 6,000 contractors vetted and managed for performance in residential and commercial work, including specialists in technical areas like cleanup after a biological event.

“Experts have warned that we have just begun to feel the impact of the virus in the U.S., and it is expected to continue to affect lives for the foreseeable future.”

With that in mind, it’s essential you ensure you are utilizing a decontamination contractor who is rigorously vetted, held to the highest standards, and professionally equipped to restore affected sites through proper remediation and containment procedures. Here are some best practices for how to approach this critical work while reducing risk for you and your customers.

Prevention protects you, your customers and others

Prevention is the first step toward reducing exposure to the virus. Even before an incident occurs, a decontamination contractor can work with your business to provide cleaning and disinfecting services designed to reduce the opportunity for infection and keep facilities operating longer. When administered by a trusted, licensed and insured provider, preventative cleaning provides a cleaner, safer work environment and enhances employee and customer satisfaction.

Decontamination services limit business interruption

If you or your customers’ facilities are exposed to coronavirus, legitimate decontamination services using proper techniques, equipment and materials, and following CDC, state and local protocols should be employed to restore your places of business back to operation as quickly as possible, limiting business interruption. Time is critical, so you should engage with a service that provides 24/7 assignment processing and emergency response.

“Providing access to a rapid-response decontamination service can help reduce the potential impact of contamination in the workplace and return the environment to full operational status as quickly as possible,” said Lance Malcolm, U.S. president of Contractor Connection. “The focus must be on helping companies limit business interruptions and ensure that the affected facilities are completely safe for those who use them.”

Safe biohazard waste disposal reduces future risk of exposure

As part of decontamination services, it’s also important to utilize contractors trained to handle and properly dispose of biohazard waste, safely removing any affected materials from the facility. Services that provide quality assurance review and project monitoring ensure speedy completion and provide peace of mind knowing exposure to the virus has been properly reduced or eliminated.