Adopted August 10, 2020 | Updated August 25, 2020
The St. Louis Arts Chamber of Commerece is committed to protecting the health and safety of our communities, volunteers and staff. “We’re all in this together” describes the essential role patrons play in allowing live events to reopen safely. As such, the Arts Chamber posts and promotes its policies through its website, social media channels, all event registration venues, through emails, mobile apps, event signage, and onsite.
The policies and procedures outlined below are indented to promote safe practices for all events to mitigate the tranisimission of COVID-19. We are committed to abide by the Missouri ArtSafe pledge and all national, state, and local regulations.
All Event Staff/Volunteers Will:
- Practice Social Distancing | Public health guidance stresses that whenever possible, everyone should leave at least six feet (about two meters) to the person closest to them.
- Practice Handwashing | Frequent hand washing with soap is vital to help combat the spread of any virus. When a sink is available, workers should wash their hands for twenty seconds, at least every 60 minutes, and dry thoroughly with a disposable towel or dryer. As a backup, workers may use sanitizer containing at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol when a sink is not available. Workers should also wash their hands at the beginning and end of each shift and break, after using the restroom, sneezing, touching their face, blowing their nose, cleaning, sweeping, mopping, smoking, eating, or drinking.
- Wear Gloves | Gloves are not a substitute for regular hand washing. Gloves made of vinyl or similar non-absorbent material that allows fine motor function without possibility of contaminating the wearer’s hands should be worn when conducting health checks on workers or patrons, tickets, or any items on which infection can be transmitted, and when using cleaning or disinfecting supplies.
- Wear Face Coverings | Physical respiratory protection such as a cloth face covering should be worn whenever people are within six feet (two meters) of each other because (a) COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets and (b) a significant number of infected people will show no outward symptoms of illness.
- Have Temperature Screening | Temperature screening using ‘no-touch’ thermometers will be required at the beginning of each shift. Anyone displaying a temperature over 100.4º F (38.0º C) should be taken to a private area for a secondary temperature screening. Workers or patrons confirmed to have a higher temperature should be denied entry and directed to appropriate medical care.
- Touching Your Face | Workers should avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth whenever possible. Microphones, headphones, and other personal equipment should not be shared and should be sanitized before and after each use.
- Cough and Sneeze Etiquette | Workers should cover their cough or sneeze with a tissue, or an elbow or shoulder if no tissue is available, followed by thorough hand washing.
- Stay Home | Staff and volunteers must notify their supervisor and stay home from work if they have symptoms of acute respiratory illness consistent with COVID-19 – such as fever, cough, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or shortness of breath – that is not explained by another medical or allergic condition.
Venues will be Sanitized:
- Sanitizing High-Touch Areas | As soon as vendors begin to load in, surfaces and objects that are touched frequently should be regularly disinfected using products approved by the applicable health authority. This applies to not only the overall facility but also to vendor booths.
- Cleaning Technique | Clean high-touch areas by using water and soap or cleaning solution to remove dirt and impurities from surfaces and objects and reduce germ counts.
- Disinfecting Technique | High-touch areas should be disinfected using materials effective against COVID-19 following manufacturer’s directions.
- Disposal | Place gloves and other disposable items used for cleaning and disinfecting in a bag that can be tied before disposing of them with other waste.
- Frequency | The frequency of cleaning high-touch areas will be after visitors touch an item, no less than once per hour.
- Documentation | Cleaning logs are carefully documented and preserved for reference. Events that contract to use a venue will request a copy of the venue’s cleaning and disinfection plan.
On-Site Procedures, Ingress/Egress:
- Handwashing Stations | Stations with either soap and water or sanitizer containing at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol will be provided at all points of ingress and other well-marked and illuminated locations throughout the venue. These stations will allow no-touch activation. Supervisors will regularly confirm there are adequate supplies.
- Parking Lots | All events sponsored by the St. Louis Arts Chamber of Commerce will follow parking procedures of the venues.
- “Virtual” Queuing for Ingress | During the ticketing process, patrons will select their approximate ingress time. Only electronic tickets by advanced purchase are accepted.
- How to Queue | Entrance and exit staff members will wear a mask and shield, six feet (two meters) distance will be marked for queuing at entrance and throughout. The line waiting to enter will be managed using common methods such as lines marked on the ground, rope and stanchions, fencing or bike rack, in combination with workers who provide information about anticipated wait time and ingress procedure and also enforce social distancing. The area where patrons wait will have signage showing the event’s health rules, including social distancing guidelines and face covering requirements.
- Temperature and Health Screening | Once patrons reach the front of the line outside the venue perimeter, a worker wearing a face covering, gloves, and medically-identifiable clothing such as scrubs, who has been approved by the Infection Mitigation Coordinator, will take the temperature of every patron and conduct a brief visual screening for symptoms of fever or infection. Temperature screening will be conducted with an infrared thermometer. Patrons with temperatures over 100.4º F (38.0º C) will not be admitted. Health screening questions will include information about recent travel locations and symptoms. Responses will be recorded on the electronic ticket record.
- Ticket Scanning | Tickets must be purchased in advance and online only. Electronic ticket records will include the health screening and temperature check upon admission.
- Face Covering and Glove Requirement | Patrons are required to wear face coverings and gloves (if touching any item in the venue) at ingress.
- Security Workers and Ticket Takers | Security workers and ticket takers will wear face coverings and gloves whenever they are among patrons, both for their own health and to model safe practices. Because contaminated gloves spread coronavirus the same as contaminated hands, workers should avoid touching tickets or patrons unless their task requires it. If touching does become necessary, the worker should immediately discard the gloves, wash their hands, and put on fresh gloves before resuming work.
- Sanitizer Stations | Once a patron has presented their ticket and entered the venue, there will be hand sanitizer or options for handwashing immediately in front of them. The Infection Mitigation Coordinator will appoint hand sanitizer monitors at points of ingress to ensure that all patrons enter with clean hands.
- Disability Accommodations | New health screening measures may require new accommodations for persons with disabilities. For example, deaf patrons who read lips may require screening from a worker wearing a clear face covering or one with a see through window over their mouth. Either a clear face shield or sign interpreter will be available at points of ingress. The Mitigation Coordinator (who is a physical therapist) will be contacted for any individual with a disability to assure access to the venue.
- Scheduled Egress from Back to Front | The floor plan for the events will include one way traffic flow from entrance, through the event space to the exit.
- Emergency Egress | Emergency egress will follow the emergency plan set up by the venue and approved by the Health Department. Note: The goal of maintaining six feet (two meters) between people would become a distant secondary consideration if there is a clear and imminent danger requiring an emergency evacuation.
- Restrooms | Staff will be assigned to restroom areas to limit occupancy of restrooms to ensure social distancing. The floor outside the restrooms will be marked at six feet (two meters) intervals. All procedures posted for safe social distancing will apply to restroom areas. Reminders of the policies will be posted in relevant areas.
- Food Service | All food service will be provided by the venue directly or subcontractors following the health guidelines approved for the facility.
Merchants’ Infection Control Plans:
Because event retail workers may touch many other workers and patrons and handle materials that people hold, consume, or wear, their attention to infection management is important. Consequently, patrons will be required to wear gloves before touching any item in an area with merchandise for sale. Should patrons choose not to wear gloves, the artist will handle the piece. Each artist will submit a cleaning plan for any items touched in their booth for approval by the Mitigation Officer prior to the opening of the event. The plans must address:
- Contactless Ordering | Items for sale can be posted on a web site or event app that allows for mobile ordering and on-site pickup.
- Queuing | Mark merchandise sales lines on floor, with barricade, or rope and stanchion, patrolled by guest services workers to provide information and enforce social distancing.
- Touchless Browsing | Patrons will be asked to not “try on” or directly handle any merchandise. Workers may touch items for sale.
- Contactless Payment | Use of cash will be discouraged and payments should be accepted using contactless systems.
- Final Sale | No returns or exchanges. All sales are final.
- Spacing | Merchandise sellers must be spaced far enough from each other so patrons can wait in line while maintaining social distance and not block access for pedestrians passing by.
Legal Issues:
All contracts and procedures will be reviewed by the St. Louis Arts Chamber of Commerce legal representative. All records for each individual will be kept with their ticket information and ticketing will require acknowledgement and agreement by the patron of the health procedures for the event. Logs identifying responsibilities for each task above will be kept with the event records. Reports of all incidents of staff, patrons or artists violating the procedures will be kept on file with the event records.
Infection Mitigation Coordinator:
Any questions or concerns about the above policies and procedures should be directed to Sandy Brooks via email at sandy@stlouisartschamberofcommerce.org.