Shipping / Receiving Operations
Scope
The following is a summary of practices that can be used to augment the safety of staff tasked with such duties. Sanitizing packages including tissues, gloves, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes are available and can be utilized at the discretion of staff. Packages can be obtained from the office of Public Safety at 0202 Ingersoll Hall. Further supplies are available through Environmental Health and Safety via an e-mail request.
Hours of Operation
Due to varying conditions, hours and days open may be subject to change.
- Office of Mailing Services | 0239 Boylan Hall | Monday, Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon
- Office of Central Routing | 004 Roosevelt Hall | Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Administrative Procedures
- Access to the campus for package delivery will be permitted only through the Avenue H gate.
- Staff must only be permitted to work if they can maintain the recommended distance of at least six feet throughout the day. Any staff member who is exhibiting cold or flu symptoms should not be permitted to work.
- If a decontamination of common surfaces did not take place at the end of the prior work day, decontamination should occur on high-touch surfaces used for sorting and working, keyboards, phones, and other surfaces used regularly. Hand washing should take place on a regular basis.
- Avoid use of sharing common office equipment. Specifically, ensure that tasks such as scanning are limited to certain staff members.
- Create alternate procedures for how college personnel may receive mail or packages. Specifically, avoid the use of commonly shared office articles (e.g., pens, pads, etc.).
- Hand washing should occur throughout the work period, specifically when there is hand contact with any high-touch surface, prior to eating, and post use of restroom facilities.
- All surfaces known to have been touched should be decontaminated at the end of the day prior to leaving.
Regular Activities
As of March 23, 2020, the best available guidance on receiving comes from USPS, which states the following:
Specifically, according to the World Health Organization, "the likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and been exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low." And according to the CDC, "in general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures. Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods." Similar statements have been released from FedEx and UPS referencing WHO and CDC guidance. There is no guidance indicating that envelopes or packages must be disinfected prior to handling.
Mail Receiving/Sorting
If not already designated, a regular area for mail sorting should be designated. Area should ensure that multiple persons sorting can work at a distance no closer than six feet. This may require setting up multiple stations. It is important to limit the number of surfaces that are being used to allow for easy to follow disinfection protocols.
For mail retrieval, it was agreed that pickups will occur at a designated location outside of the mailroom. Any queue must follow appropriate social distancing measures: maintain a distance of at least six feet apart when waiting for mail delivery.
Package Receiving and Retrieval
- Packages will be received through the Central Routing loading dock located at Roosevelt Hall. Surfaces should be decontaminated as needed.
- When receiving packages, follow the delivery companies' accepted altered protocol for receiving. USPS, UPS, and FedEx do not require signing for packages but may require IDs. IDs should not be hand handled by delivery companies.
- As per guidance above, there is no recommendation that a package requires disinfection. The mode of transmission to consider is from hand contact, where the well-established hand-washing guidance should be established.
- When allowing for packages to be retrieved, ensure that a full alternate procedure has been developed that maintains social distance and allows for the package receipt to the appropriate person to be documented.
Other Activities
Any activities where large-scale deliveries of materials are made should be discussed to ensure proper delivery of such materials while ensuring the safety of staff.
