Carter Machinery Company, Inc. Guidelines

Carter Machinery takes the health and wellness of our team, customers, and visitors very seriously.  The following procedures are being implemented effective immediately and until further notice.  We also strongly encourage you to follow these protocols at home and share this with family and close friends.  The purpose of these policies is to not only keep you and your families healthy, but also slow the spread of the virus so health care professionals are not overrun.

As we navigate through these unprecedented times, it is important to remember that our customers depend on us for their livelihood.  Therefore, it is critical that stores remain open and fully functional during this period of extreme uncertainty.  Our goal with the following guidelines is to minimize exposure to the COVID-19 virus while also retaining the ability to support our customers during this volatile time. 

We ask that each one of you continue to work smartly, practice proper hygiene, evaluate alternatives where exposure is possible and stay home if you are feeling sick.

In addition to the guidance communicated in our March 10^th, 2020 email to all team members, we are providing further direction in a couple of critical areas below.

Precautions:

• All employees and guests are required to wash their hands upon entering any Carter facility.  This includes but is not limited to coming to work in the morning, returning from lunch, and customer visits for example.  Proper hand washing consists of using soap and water while washing for a minimum of 20 seconds.
• It is important that employees do not shake hands with others, including customers and suppliers.  This is a general guideline issued during most pandemic outbreaks and will be commonly understood.
• When possible, employees should carry hand sanitizer and use it after visiting public places.  A corporate order of sanitizer has been placed and will be distributed when it arrives. Those in the field should keep sanitizer in their vehicles and have it readily available for use when possible.  Employees should still wash their hands immediately upon re-entering a Carter facility.
• Keep your hands away from your mouth, nose and face.
• Assign individuals in each area to wipe down/disinfect common areas, such as door knobs, counters, cabinets and various other surfaces, twice per day.**
• We ask that each Store Manager engage the leadership of their local cleaning service to ensure proper cleaning/disinfecting of common areas.
• Each employee should be wiping down/disinfecting their work surfaces i.e. desk, computer keyboard, phones, drawers, chair, cellphones, tools, each day.**

**If you are unable to find proper disinfectant supplies you can use a bleach solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water.

Limiting face to face meetings:

• All Training classes over the two weeks have been cancelled.  There is a high likelihood that classes scheduled for the remainder of the next 30 days will also be postponed to a future date.
• Training that can be conducted remotely (via WebEx) will still proceed as scheduled.
• Unfortunately, we have also postponed some retirement events scheduled in the next couple of weeks.  We look forward to rescheduling those events when the current crisis has subsided.
• Area morning meetings, sales meetings, CI Board meetings and other cross-functional gatherings should be conducted remotely through facetime, email or other means to distribute information.
• Lunch periods –stagger lunch schedules to reduce the number of employees gathering in small spaces.  It is acceptable to eat lunch at your work station or desk rather than in the lunchroom with others.  Please postpone the use of any food trucks that may periodically serve our facilities.
• Can you meet with customers remotely?  If face to face meetings are necessary, please practice social distancing during the meetings.
• Be informed of your customer’s requirements regarding COVID-19 before traveling to provide services.  Check with your customers prior to sending employees to their facilities.  If a customer has had a positive COVID-19 test result do not go to that facility or location.

Travel limitations:

• Effective immediately, all non-essential travel is on hold, including travel within the company.  For further clarification of non-essential travel within your area, please be in discussion with your supervisor.
• Additionally, we are providing further direction regarding future travel plans as well as our expectations and restrictions for those employees who have recently traveled.  We are committed to limiting exposure risks and making arrangements for our team to work from home where possible until the risk has passed.

We continue to thank you for your personal diligence regarding the spread of COVID-19.  We ask that everyone remain prudent and cautious.  The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is a respiratory disease and is very contagious.  While there is not a vaccine at this time, there are tried-and-true ways to treat respiratory illnesses and help reduce further spreading.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a great resource for additional information https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure all proper precautions are being taken to guard the health and safety of our employees and customers.