Recommended Business Practices for Heating Fuel Dealers During the Coronavirus Pandemic

It is imperative that your company take precautions to protect the health and safety of your employees and customers. As individual states and localities confront new surges in COVID-19 cases, they may update guidelines for daily work activities and interfacing with customers. The below best practices recommended by NEFI are intended to complement these guidelines and do not replace government rules and regulations.

In addition to implementing the best practices below, NEFI strongly recommends consulting the CDC website and fully adopting all state reopening guidelines. Remember most labor practices are based on state laws and regulations. Many of these laws, rules, and best practices are now evolving rapidly. What may have been appropriate earlier in the pandemic may not be appropriate now. All businesses should consult with legal counsel and a qualified physician on these matters.

Recommended Practices for Everyone

• Frequently wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• If soap and running water are unavailable, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Implement the CDC's social distancing measures, including maintaining six feet of distance from colleagues, employees and customers. Always wear a mask when social distancing cannot be maintained.
• Store face masks and other PPE properly to protect them from damage, contamination or deformation.
• Avoid contact with individuals who are showing symptoms of COVID-19, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath, chills, and new loss of taste or smell. Please refer to the CDC website for the full list of symptoms.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue and dispose of it immediately, then wash your hands.
• Communicate regularly with suppliers, employees, and customers to keep them informed of any changes to your business.

Recommended Practices for Company-Customer Interactions

• Whenever possible rely on phone, text, email, teleconferencing, or other electronic methods to communicate with customers, instead of in-person conversations.
• Wear face masks and gloves on all service calls. Follow established glove and mask protocols, including proper cleaning or disposal.
• Employees should wash or sanitize their hands before arrival at a job site and immediately upon departure.
• Fuel deliveries made to customers' homes present low risk factors. However, if possible, send delivery and service invoices by mail or switch to electronic invoicing instead of leaving invoices at the door. Utilize online delivery or service requests and customer payments to avoid unnecessary customer interactions.
• Reassure customers by notifying them of the precautions you are taking to keep their families safe and healthy.
• In general, avoid all direct contact with customers and maintain a distance of at least six feet at all times.
• On service calls, if the customer has separate access to their heating or air conditioning system, request in advance that they make the area available to you directly, e.g., opening bulkheads, cellar doors, etc.
• If the unit is a hot air or air conditioning system, try to avoid opening parts of the system through which air flows, including filters. Rather than installing filters, leave them behind for the customer to install.
• Before entering a customer's home, ask if anyone in the household is experiencing symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath, chills or new lost of taste or smell.
• Request that any individuals under voluntary or required self-quarantine or isolation or who are experiencing signs and/or symptoms of COVID-19 remain physically separated from the worker (e.g., request that the sick person go into a different room, level of the home, or outside if weather permits), and communicate remotely with the worker (e.g., by cell phone). Also ask individuals in the home to cover coughs and sneezes. If anyone refuses to comply, leave the home and contact your employer for further instructions.
• Utilize closed doors and walls as physical barriers to separate workers from any individuals under voluntary or required self-quarantine or isolation or who are experiencing signs and/or symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
• Technicians may also use plastic sheeting when they need to occupy specific areas of a home for an extended period that are also occupied by potentially infectious individuals.
• If an employee develops COVID-19 symptoms, immediately notify all customers who the employee was in contact with while symptomatic and during the 48-hour period prior to symptom onset. If the employee followed the above protocols, the customer's risk of exposure should be minimal. See section below for further guidance related to symptomatic employees and potential exposure.

Recommended Practices for Employer-Employee Interactions

• Follow the guidelines above for minimizing risk of exposure.
• Train all employees on the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and how the disease is spread.
• Review with your employees all service polices and procedures your company has put into place.
• Instruct technicians to follow all Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines for in-home services, available here.
• Employers should issue facemasks to each employee when necessary to protect their health, and train all employees on proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Provide disinfectants and sanitizers that employees can use to wipe surfaces or equipment that they touch.
• Regularly clean and disinfect surfaces that are touched frequently. These include desks, keyboards, office and mobile phones, doorknobs, faucet handles, vehicle door handles, steering wheels, etc.
• Instruct delivery and service personnel to perform their duties without interacting in person with office staff whenever possible. For example, electronically send work orders, delivery tickets and driver routes.
• Employees should be instructed to immediately notify their employer of a potential exposure to COVID-19. Incidents of "potential exposure" include being within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection).
• Employers should measure a potentially exposed employee's temperature and assess symptoms prior to them starting work. Temperature checks should happen before the individual enters the office or jobsite.
• A potentially exposed employee should be required to wear a facemask, whenever in the workplace or at a jobsite, 10 days after last exposure, or 7 days if they have tested negative since then.
• Employees should be sent home immediately if symptoms develop. Advise the employee to follow CDC guidelines for managing symptoms at home. His or her workspace and any company vehicles the employee used should be immediately cleaned and disinfected. Identify individuals who were potentially exposed to the sick employee while he or she experienced symptoms or during the 2 days prior to symptom onset. Those potentially exposed employees should be subject to the protocol described above.
• Employees who are symptomatic and isolated may return to work after meeting conditions described by the CDC, as outlined here.
• If an employee fatality occurs within 30 days of a work-related incident, report the fatality to OSHA within eight hours of finding out about it.
• Keep required records of work-related fatalities, injuries and illness.
• Allow employees to stay home to care for sick family members or for children if childcare is otherwise unavailable.
• Where possible, segment work teams into isolated smaller units so that an outbreak in one unit does not necessarily affect all.
• Understand laws and regulations related to sick time and paid family medical leave, and how they apply to essential employees. Contact your state industry association, state labor department, or a qualified legal or HR professional on the latest employee leave requirements.

Other Important Resources

Small Business Resources

Small Business Administration COVID-19 Guidance & Loan Resources

U.S. Treasury Assistance for Small Businesses

NFIB Small Business Resources in Response to Coronavirus

Healthcare Organizations & Information

Depression, Anxiety, & Mental Health: NAMI COVID-19 Resources
Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 800-273-8255

CDC Guidance for Workers Who May Have Been Exposed to Someone with COVID-19

CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) Main Page

IHME COVID-19 U.S. and State-by-State Projections

Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center

World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus Website

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vaccine FAQ

USA Today's State-by-State List of Vaccine Plans

Resources from Other National Organizations

Additional resources and guidance provided by national organizations for other products and services are below. Note: NEFI was not involved in the creation of these resources and does not have direct affiliation these organizations.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Resources for Businesses

American Trucking Associations (ATA) COVID-19 Update Hub

Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) Guidance for Propane Marketers

EMA Resources for Petroleum Marketers

NACS Resources for Convenience Stores

NATSO Resources for Truck Stops & Travel Plazas

PHCC Resources for HVAC Professionals

ACCA Resources for Air Conditioning Contractors

Guidance for Propane Marketers

Propane (PERC) Guidance

Face Mask Resources

Face Mask Suppliers

FMCSA Face Mask Distributions

How to Properly Put On and Remove Face Masks

Face Mask With Filter Pocket And Adjustable Wire Sewing Tutorial

How to Sew a Face Mask

Printable Face Mask Sewing Pattern

Associate Member PPE Resources

• Products: Branded masks, neck gaiters, hand sanitizers & dispensers, and disinfecting wipes, face shields & floor decals
• Contact person: Noel Choquette
• Phone number: 978-5052783
• Webpage URL: enosis-gs.com
• Email address: nchoquette@enosis-gs.com

State-by-State COVID-19 Resources & Vaccine Information

State-by-State Licensing & Registration Changes (Download PDF)

State-by-State COVID-19 Orders & Restrictions

USA Today's State-by-State List of Vaccine Plans

Northeast & Mid-Atlantic State Resources

Connecticut
Connecticut Energy Marketers Association
Contact 860-615-4130
Industry Resources: https://www.ctema.com/coronavirus
State Portal: https://portal.ct.gov/coronavirus
Vaccine Information: https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Vaccination---Phases

Delaware
Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association
Contact (410) 349-0808
State Portal: https://coronavirus.delaware.gov
Vaccine Information: https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/vaccine

District of Columbia
Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association
Contact (410) 349-0808
District Portal: https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-resources
Vaccine Information: https://coronavirus.dc.gov/vaccine

Maine
Maine Energy Marketers Association
Contact 207-729-5298
Industry Resources: https://maineenergymarketers.com/coronavirus-resources
State Portal: https://www.maine.gov/covid19
Vaccine Information: https://www.maine.gov/covid19/vaccines

Maryland
Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association
Contact (410) 349-0808
State Portal: https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/business-resources
Vaccine Information: https://covidlink.maryland.gov/content/vaccine

Massachusetts
Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association
Contact 855-876-2682
State Portal: https://www.mass.gov/coronavirus
Vaccine Information: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-covid-19-vaccine-information

New Hampshire
Energy Marketers Association of New Hampshire
Contact 603-415-8330
State Portal: https://www.nh.gov/covid19
Vaccine Information: https://www.nh.gov/covid19/resources-guidance/vaccination-planning.htm

New Jersey
Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey
Contact 973-467-1400
Industry Resources: https://www.fmanj.org/covid-19
State Portal: https://covid19.nj.gov
Vaccine Information: https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/vaccine

New York
Empire State Energy Association
Contact 518-280-6645
New York State Energy Coalition
Contact: 212-695-1380
Industry Resources: https://eseany.org/esea-members/covid
State Portal: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov
Vaccine Information: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Petroleum Association
Contact 717-939-1781
Industry Resources: https://www.papetroleum.org/coronavirus
State Portal: https://www.pa.gov/guides/responding-to-covid-19
Vaccine Information: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Vaccine.aspx

Rhode Island
Energy Marketers Association of Rhode Island
Contact 401-619-4553
Industry Resources: https://warmth4ri.com/covid-19-impact-fuel-delivery
State Portal: http://bit.ly/RI_CovidPortal
Vaccine Information: https://covid.ri.gov/vaccination

Vermont
Vermont Fuel Dealers Association
Contact 802-223-7750
Industry Resources: https://www.vermontfuel.com/news/index.html
State Portal: https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19
Vaccine Information: https://www.healthvermont.gov/covid-19/vaccine/vermont-covid-19-vaccine-planning

Federal COVID-19 Resources

Federal Government COVID-19 Resource Hub

Dept. of Transportation Coronavirus Resources

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration COVID-19 Resources

Dept. of Labor: COVID-19 and the American Workplace

OHSA COVID-19 Guidance for Workers and Employees

IRS Coronavirus Tax Relief

EPA Coronavirus Resource Page

Dept. of Health & Human Services Coronavirus Update

CFTC Coronavirus Commodity Trading Information & Advisories

Federal Emergency Management Agency COVID-19 Response Page

AAMVA State-by-state Licensing and Registration Changes (Download PDF)

State-by-State COVID-19 Orders & Restrictions

NEFI Communications