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Video: Protecting customers, employees from the coronavirus

The importance of handwashing is often taken for granted and inspired Jason Berkowitz, CEO of Arrow Up, to create a short video to help remind restaurateurs how to properly wash their hands.

Microscopic view of coronavirus, a pathogen that attacks the respiratory tract. istock

March 3, 2020

The restaurant industry employs 15 million people in America, according to the National Restaurant Industry, which leads to billions of daily human interactions. That's a lot of germ-swapping and why restaurants should be taking precautions to avoid spreading pathogens, including the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 respiratory illness. It was first detected in Wuhan, China, and has since killed 3,000 people globally. As of Tuesday, 100 cases in the U.S. have been reported, and six people have died.

Since there is no vaccine for the virus, the best measure is to avoid coming in contact with it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Restaurant customers and employees should take a few basic precautions, including seeing a doctor when sick, washing their hands, getting a flu shot, not going to work when sick and not touching their ears, noses or mouths, according to the CDC.

The most important step — handwashing for at least 20 seconds — is often taken for granted, however, and inspired Jason Berkowitz, CEO of Arrow Up, to create a short video to help remind restaurateurs how to properly wash their hands.

"As a veteran operator and partner, I'm on a mission to create engaging, memorable training to help protect our teams, our businesses and our guests," the former operating partner of fast casual restaurant Tocaya Organica said in an email to FastCasual.

Watch it here:
 

Keeping everyone safe
If an employee shows flu-like symptoms, the National Restaurant Association recommended that they stay home from work until symptom-free. If a worker notices that a customer appears sick, they should:

• Provide the customer with additional napkins or tissues to use when they cough or sneeze.
• Make sure alcohol-based hand sanitizer is available for customers to use.
• Clean and sanitize any objects or surfaces that may have been touched by the sick person.

According to the CDC, the spread of COVID-19 occurs when people are in close contact (less than 6 feet) with an infected
person. If workers come into contact with a sick person's bodily fluid, the employer should:

• Ensure the employee who is cleaning up the area is using Personal Protective Equipment.
• Segregate the area that has been contaminated.
• Dispose of any food that has been exposed.
• Ensure any utensils that might have been exposed are cleaned and sanitized.
• Frequently clean and sanitize the area to include the floor, walls and any other objects contaminated by the incident.
• Properly dispose of any of the equipment that was used to clean up the area.