Feds Release Updated Cleaning and Disinfecting Guidance

As many businesses begin to plan for the return of employees to their workplaces, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated guidance (available from EPA here and CDC here) for properly cleaning and disinfecting surfaces. The guidance provides much-needed information to businesses and other institutions that are balancing the need to return to work with reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19. In particular, the guidance may be helpful for multi-state operations struggling to make sense of conflicting state and local guidance on how to prepare and maintain safe workplaces. Recognizing that EPA-approved disinfectants may be in short supply, the guidance provides alternative disinfectants, such as bleach or alcohol solutions, to kill germs on surfaces. 

Brownstein’s COVID-19 Task Force is available to assist your business or organization in developing return to work plans that incorporate this type of federal guidance. 

Information is changing daily and some of the content included in this alert may have changed or been updated since publication.

Click here to read more Brownstein alerts on the legal issues the coronavirus threat raises for businesses.

This document is intended to provide you with general information regarding federal guidance on disinfecting surfaces. The contents of this document are not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about the contents of this document or if you need legal advice as to an issue, please contact the attorneys listed or your regular Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP attorney. This communication may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions.