- Health Care Buildings
Our research space is located within health care facilities. The Health Authorities have set policies for their spaces and we must respect them.
- Building Entry
Entrance will be limited to fewer doorways for the public, including research participants and guests. Research personnel are encouraged to use alternate entrances requiring key card access in order to minimize having to interact with patients/members of the general public. At the entrance, follow directions posted and marked on the floor to assist you in maintaining 2 metres distance. Sanitize your hands at the ABHR station placed at the entry. Be prepared to show your ID and to answer questions regarding your health status.
- Elevators & Stairwells
Follow maximum occupancy posted for elevators at all times. Maintain distance from others while waiting. Priority is to be given to patients and hospital staff.
Staff who are able, are encouraged to use stairwells for access to their office/clinic/research space, in order to reduce elevator crowding. As stairs are bi-directional due to fire code restrictions, be aware and maintain appropriate physical distancing. Priority is to be given to hospital staff.
- Research Spaces
Follow posted signs and markings on the floor indicating physical distance requirements and directing traffic in to / out of spaces and areas.
Automatic door plates, where available, are recommended and preferred.
If shared space is not large enough to accommodate adequate physical distancing, plan for staggered work schedules and/or use of alternate spaces that will allow physical distancing and occupancy rules to be followed.
OCCUPANCY RESTRICTIONS
UBC have directed that prioritized and time-sensitive research may resume, with the goal of not exceeding one-third of normal occupancy (i.e., a maximum of 1/3 of the personnel are allowed in the research space at the same time). For example, for a research space with 12 research personnel (including the research PI), no more than 4 people may be in the space at any one time.
Each research team must assess whether members actually require access to the building; any work that can be done remotely should be done at home, so that some research teams will not reach their maximum (1/3) numbers in the building for this first Stage of research resumption. Regardless of the number of people from a given research team permitted in our space at any given time, there are strict occupancy limits for spaces within the building. Do not exceed these numbers for any reason without consulting the department Administrative Director.
Each research faculty/PI must develop a plan to ensure that no more than their allotted number of research team members are on site at any one time. A schedule and contact numbers of research team members must be posted at a central location in a research space that can be accessed by the building managers and security; the PI must communicate to the Administrative Director or designate ahead of time to specify which members will be working at any given day/time. This plan should be updated on a weekly basis (or any time the schedule changes) and posted.
Building hours will be limited Monday through Friday for Stage 1 unless prior arrangements are made with the Administrative Director or designate. This is required to allow cleaning staff full access to the building in the evenings and on weekends for deep cleaning and sanitizing.
Prior to resuming work each research team must:
- Ensure there is sufficient PPE available if required;
- Ensure the research space has sufficient sanitizer/bottles/disinfectant wipes for each worker during their shift;
- Develop a working plan for the research space’s physical layout (directional flow, physical distancing marker placement, etc). Maximum occupancy can never be exceeded regardless of the number of research personnel that may return.
Once the research space is prepared, shift work may commence.
- Coordinate shifts within shared spaces to remain below maximum occupancy;
- All study team members must be compliant with the department’s working alone/in isolation procedures, and the working after-hours procedures, if applicable.
- Open Office Spaces/Workstations
In accordance with UBC policy, work that can be done off-site must be performed remotely. Hence open office spaces and workstations should not be heavily used. However, if necessary, maintain distance from others by ensuring only one person per bay unless physical barriers are present to separate workstations and protect workers from cross-interactions.
- Internal Rooms and Offices
Internal rooms for research may be small with restricted space. Their occupancy limit is set at one. Exceptions to this rule may be made in the case of larger rooms. In this case, the occupancy limit should be determined in compliance with current physical distancing and occupancy rules and posted at the entrance(s) to these rooms. If you have a space you think should have a higher occupancy limit than one, contact the Administrative Director.
Offices should be minimally used at this time as much of the work should be conducted remotely whenever possible/feasible.