Information for Employees at the CAU

In the context of SARS-CoV-2, a general determination of the classification of individual employees into a riskgroup is not possible due to the variety of different pre-existing conditions and their severity as well as the multitude of other influencing factors. Influencing factors include consideration of viral variants and their clinical impact, as well as Covid19 vaccination or recovery status. An age limit at which an increased probability of severe COVID-19 disease progression is to be assumed cannot be justified.

The RKI therefore calls for each case to be considered individually, with the connection between the individual health situation and the activities performed being decisive. Occupational medical expertise is therefore particularly important.

According to the occupational health recommendation of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs "Dealing with employees in particular need of protection due to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic", December 2021 (BMAS website - Dealing with employees in particular need of protection due to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic), activities should be divided into four groups:

Group 1 has a low risk and Group 4 a very high risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Group 1: Low-risk activities

• Low-risk activities are characterised by a low risk of exposure and infection with SARS-CoV-2.
• Activities with little or no contact with persons (e.g. employees, customers) and compliance with the minimum distance of 1.5 m.
• Activities without contact with persons known or suspected to be infected with SARS-CoV-2.
• Activities with little contact with the public
  Examples: Activities in a home office, lone workers (e.g. office, laboratory, archive).

Group 2: Activities with a medium risk

Activities with a medium risk are characterised by a medium risk of exposure and a medium risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2.

• Activities with frequent and/or close contact with persons (minimum distance of 1.5 m observed).
• Activities with persons who may be infected with SARS-CoV-2 but are not known COVID-19 patients.
  Examples: Activities in social services, retail trade, public authorities

Group 3 "Activities with a high risk" (medical and nursing activities) and Group 4 "Activities with a very high risk" (treatments and examinations on known COVID-19 patients) are not present at CAU outside the clinical area of the Faculty of Medicine.

In principle, the following still applies:

Any risk of infection must be minimised through (hygiene) measures (AHA+L). The establishment and implementation of a hygiene concept as well as an adapted operational risk assessment is of great importance and represents a direct management task.

If compliance with the minimum distance of 1.5 m is not possible with certainty due to the specifics of the operation, mouth-nose protection (MNS -medical mask or FFP2 mask) must also be worn temporarily at the workplace in accordance with appropriate hygiene concepts.

Procedure:

If employees indicate to their superiors that they belong to a risk group, the occupational health service should be consulted. An individual risk assessment with documentation of measures is to be prepared by the supervisors with the involvement of the occupational health service.

The possibility of a work assignment in the office is determined by the supervisor on the basis of the risk assessment. In addition to the health impairments, the work situation (workplace design, spatial situation; cf. risk assessment) must be analysed in detail. In particular, the cooperation with interfaces, external persons and other colleagues must be considered and clarified in a joint exchange with the employee.

Initially, it is not necessary to submit a medical certificate. If, in the course of the risk assessment, it is necessary to submit an additional opinion from a general practitioner or specialist, this must be provided by the employee.

In the case of severely disabled employees or employees of equal status, the representative body for severely disabled employees (SBV) must be informed by superiors about the risk assessment carried out and the organisational measures derived from it.

Professors please contact the respective dean's office of the faculty.

The following applies to the university workplace

Supervisors must organise the work area that they are responsible for in such a way that the risk of infection is minimised.

For technical and administrative staff, the new "Homeoffice" work agreement concluded on 17.03.2022 and the conclusion of an agreement between the employee and their supervisor now form the basis for working from home. For employees in the scientific field, the agreements continue to be informal. Working from home should be used as a form of mobile work by those who require special protection (persons who belong to a high-risk group), if no individual or organisational arrangements can be made on site for the work station, even after consultation with the university's in-house doctor

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• By employees who are affected by the closure of kindergartens or schools
• In the event of slight cold symptoms
• In the event of quarantine or isolation.

The prerequisite in all cases is that the respective activities of the staff member are suited to mobile work.  Availability must be ensured and the regulations on working hours must be observed.

The protective measures at the workplace are based on the CAU’s current Hygiene Conceptual Framework and the individual risk assessments:

• We recommend maintaining a minimum social distance of 1.5 metres to other people wherever possible, both indoors and outdoors.
• Observe hygiene rules. The hygiene recommendations by the Federal Ministry of Health
  (www.infektionsschutz.de) are a source of guidance.
• The obligation to wear a face mask is no longer applicable since 25.05.2022. In all CAU buildings, including the libraries, greenhouses at the Botanical Garden, museums and sports venues, however, we still recommend wearing a face mask (surgical or FFP2 mask) if the minimum social distance of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.
• Air interior rooms regularly, i.e. every 20 minutes for 3 to 5 minutes.

Employees are no longer obliged to provide daily test result certificates or to provide information about their vaccination or recovered status. Self-tests have no longer been issued since 26.05.2022. You can still use the public testing stations.

The information and recommendations by the Central Unit: Safety Engineering (“Risk assessment and working alone”) must be observed. Supervisors must prepare risk assessments for work on site or adapt existing risk assessments. If you have any questions about occupational safety, please contact Ms Hefner (mhefner@uv.uni-kiel.de) or Mr Breuninger (pbreuninger@uv.uni-kiel.de).

Meetings, committee meetings and business meetings can take place face-to-face. The minimum social distance of 1.5 metres should be maintained during room occupancy - if possible - but is not mandatory. The general hygiene regulations must be observed.

For the occupancy of (office) rooms, the checklist for the assessment of rooms with multiple occupancy can be used. The checklist is available on the pages of the Safety Engineer's Office (in German).

In addition, the instructions and recommendations of the Safety Engineer's Office ("Risk assessment and working alone") should be observed.

Necessary and official meetings are generally possible in presence, provided that the general hygiene rules and the minimum distances between participants are observed on site. The minimum distance of 1.5 metres should be observed when rooms are occupied - if possible - but is not obligatory. We recommed you to wear a mask.

The already familiar flexibility instruments (options for flexible working hours) are still generally available in order to minimise the risk of infection.