The chief medical officer of the State of Kansas advised managers of meat processing plants and other agrifood facilities to make sure every COVID-19 precaution is in place to avoid any liabilities or workers’ compensation cases.
Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and state health officer, said while speaking at the Kansas Ag Growth Summit on August 18 that his office has been receiving inquiries from risk management companies, insurance companies and legal firms about COVID-19 in the workplace.
Because of those inquiries, Norman said it is crucial that businesses are not negligent in protecting its workforce.
A question that is commonly asked, he said, is what are the implications when a person finds through contract tracing that they contracted the coronavirus while on the job.
Norman said while pinpointing the exact place where a person became infected can be a difficult thing to do, it is still something with which to be concerned.
“To be honest with you, it would be very difficult to (trace the source of infection) because people for the most part are free-living humans and they are out in the community,” said Norman.
“I’m just putting that out there. I think you have to keep that in mind. It’s going to come up as a question.”
Norman said that is a good reason to make sure employers remain vigilant in doing everything possible to prevent the incidence and spread of COVID-19.
“Keep that in mind. If you don’t do what you can materially to modify the work setting, and due diligence to quarantine and protect the employees, I think that will emerge as a problem,” said Norman. “It hasn’t really hit the fan yet with that, but I think it well could.”
The summit was hosted by the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.
