Back To Work Protocol

I just put this up on WUS and I thought I'd share it with all you good folks as well:

This is a controversial subject and as such, while I have strong opinions, I will try to keep it as fact-based as possible. I post it not to inflame the mods or board, but to inform anyone who is looking at returning to a normal work environment in the near future. Mods, please don’t take this down, as it’s really for information only and I don’t want any charged members to post things that will get it taken down.

Thanks



As I was cleaning the loo and mulling over life, something struck me that I thought I should pass on. Our DIL, who is a grade school teacher at an East Bay school district, is looking at the possibility of returning to in-classroom teaching.

Wifey and I have invited them over for a socially distanced picnic a couple times and DIL asked me what to expect.

I’ve been essential for the entire time of the lockdown; we got one day off while the government and the company decided what’s what, and then we were back on the job (I believe it was March 18th). Prior to that time, I had grown more concerned and a couple weeks prior, it was informally announced that someone in the building had been presumed positive so my guard really went up.

I had a stash of N95 masks that I had purchased a year earlier when California was on fire and began to wear them even before the lockdown, particularly in a public place such as a grocery store.

Regarding the masks, I have 3M vented masks and I realized two things; One: the flap isn’t fast enough to insure that you don’t get leakage, and; Two: with the flap open you are (maybe) protecting yourself against others, but certainly not others against yourself. With that in mind, I placed a strip of masking tape around the outside of the vent and folded it inward, sealing the vent.

Obviously, if you are wearing cloth masks or non-vented masks, this advice is moot, but if you are wearing a vented mask, please pay heed to it, you may be saving more than the one next to you.

Now, back to the DIL who’s potentially going to face the random masses. She asked me what protocol I used (I think because she figured “If anybody’s got this snit figured out, it will be me”).

Back in the day, the first thing I worried about was “Can I reuse this mask”. Instinctively, I marked a box of ten masks one through ten and taped them up. I put four in the back of my car (hatchback, but trunk is fine) on a plastic tray. I decided to wear one a day for the week so that the others would sit in the tray for an entire week before using them again.

Recently, I read an article that said the inventor of the fabric for an N95 mask was asked to research how to reuse them. His answer was to let them sit in a hot place for a week and then they’d be ready to go. What luck; it was just a guess on my part but apparently I got it right.

Now regarding mask protocol. Obviously when you pull it from the trunk it is contamination free but what about during the day? You can leave it on for the entire day but our work protocol allows us to remove it when in our cubicles and not discussing something with someone outside our cubicle (another entering your cubicle is strictly prohibited).

So about mask handling, how do you don and doff it safely?

With a mask like my N95s that goes over the head, when it's on, you grasp the lower elastic on both sides behind the neck and stretch it so you can loop it over your head without touching the front of the mask, with it finally below the mask near your neck. Then take the upper elastic and do the same thing except this time, pull the mask away from your face, keeping the elastic away from the outside and while also holding your breath. Before inhaling, move to another part of the area well away from the mask.

To put it back on, grab the upper elastic without touching the mask and pull it towards your face, pulling the upper elastic over the top of your head and above your ears. I find that extending your jaw keeps the mask in place. Now take the lower elastic, again not touching the mask, and pull it over your head until it’s on the neck.

When removing, while holding the upper elastic, I place the mask in a porcelain dish, carefully setting the lower and upper bands away from the outside surface of the mask. Once I put the mask back on at the end of the day, I clean the dish with some Clorox Disinfectant Spray and a paper towel. I also go over my cubicle once a week with the same stuff, allowing it to sit wet on any surface for at least 30 seconds. Rubber gloves are a must as the stuff really stinks and doesn’t go away for hours if absorbed in the skin.

With an ear mask it’s a lot easier. Just try not to touch the outer surface of the mask; one ear, then the next.

Regarding our facilities:

The perimeter door needs two factor ID, a badge and a PIN. I only touch the PIN pad and door handle with my right hand and that hand is contaminated until I can wash it. It is a pariah until I get to the sink. I have a gallon of disinfectant under my desk and occasionally I use it, but I trust washing much more. So, without touching anything with my right hand, I place my briefcase in my cube, take off my sunglasses, and head straight to the area mini-kitchen, were we have a sink with a soap dispenser.

I turn it on, run my hands under it until fully wetted and then use the hand soap dispenser for soap. I follow the CDC guidelines (together, front side to backside on both hands, train coupling between hands, rubbing thumbs; the details are on the CDC website). With the water still running, I get a paper towel from the automatic dispenser, dry my hands and use the paper to turn off the water.

Any time I go to relieve myself, I first only use the facilities if no one is currently occupying them (they’re pretty big, but there’s no desperate reason to share it with another, there’s another one down the hall).

Regarding meetings; we don’t have them anymore 👍, and if there’s some over-riding reason to hold one, it’s done through skype.

Edit: My workplace has asked us each to self screen by taking our temperatures before coming to work, which I do religiously. I carry a digital thermometer in my briefcase as well.

Edit Edit: Being a sofware engineer, I've always had the advantage of a flexible workshift/workweek. I typically come to work in the late afternoon and work until the earlier hours of the morning. This allows me time to consult with those on a regular shift but also to spend most of my time here with fewer people around. I'm not the only one, but in a room that holds maybe sixty people, there are just a few around in the evening.

So that’s pretty much it in a nutshell. I keep a backup cloth mask in a pocket at all times in case I’m caught out in the open, but I try to wear an N95 as much as possible while in a public place. While Wifey and I are out walking, we just go around people (and here in Santa Clara County, everyone is very cooperative but there's the occasional a-hole on a bicycle), but I have pulled out the emergency mask on occasion.

I hope you find this informative; I’m just trying to keep us all safe and well and ready to post when we can finally afford that grail in a year from now.

Dave

Brilliant!

Some of my friends who are healthcare workers have been using bent paper clips to keep the mask elastic off their ears as it gets irritating over the course of a 12 hour shift. Not something particularly convenient if you're donning/doffing a mask multiple times a day, but if you're wearing it for hours at a time, it works if you're not allowed a hat.

Buttons on a headband is another solution I've seen.

DIL?
and
https://omegaforums.net/threads/please-stop-using-abbreviations.117642/page-2#post-1566217

Well now, MAMIL is "Middle Aged Man In Lycra" (Lycra ~= Spandex) so given the like farming with pet pictures I assume it's "Dog In Lycra".

ICBW though 😉

I have been wearing a mask, as/if required. I am not fan of wearing a mask, but will follow local rules based on community I am visiting. Last month I was is Florida (Cape Canaveral), not a mask in sight, so I left mine in my pocket. I am traveling to Florida in two weeks, I understand masks are now more common now, so I will wear mine.

My son on the other hand, will wear his if he leaves the condo to go walk the dog (condo complex is 50% vacant). Finally today I convinced him it was okay to get a haircut (literally no haircut in 6 months). I think this was due to him getting ready to start grad school and not wanting to look like a homeless person on his photo ID.

I thought that was universal language. Daughter-in-law.

I was faced with this problem in a doctor's office waiting room. Even though it was clearly taped up, they asked me to remove it and put one of their surgical masks on. I looked around at several others in the waiting room and didn't like what I saw so I said "I'm not taking my mask off in here". I thought about leaving (Wifey's appointment) but my wife said "Just put their mask on over yours". All parties happy.

If the airline complains, I'll have a cloth one to go over the real one.

^^^ What library did you steal the cutting pad from?

No problem. I just couldn't help myself. It does look pretty trashed, tho.

I bought my son a rental BCD for a song but it came with markings clearly calling it out as a rental. The marks were some kind of flexible epoxy ink. I asked the shop manager if he had any ideas on how to get it out. He said "Well, that's kinda the point of using it".