Safety-Care^® Recommended Infection Control Precautions for Specialist Training

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect North America, QBS has recommendations about how to conduct training of Safety-Care. These are not requirements.

Note: When QBS conducts in-person Safety-Care trainings, we follow a specific protocol. This protocol is not the same as the recommendations set out here, because the circumstances are different.

General Training Recommendations

• Each organization should conduct training in compliance with applicable state, provincial, and local government requirements.

• Each organization should assess its own needs with regard to Safety-Care training. It may be appropriate to train fewer staff or to train some staff on a more limited version of Safety-Care.

• Consult with qualified medical professionals regarding appropriate precautions (not just this document).

• QBS currently allows remote training of the non-competency parts of the curriculum. Consider this option if it is practical. Remote training must be over a live two-way audiovisual connection. The same limits on class size apply to in-person training. You can quickly demonstrate or discuss competencies (showing video from Trainer Connect if appropriate). Competencies must be tested in person, but that can happen at a later date, 1:1 or in small groups.

In-Person Training

• Follow state, provincial, regulatory, and local government guidelines regarding exposure, isolation, strict use of masks, etc. These guidelines will likely vary depending on vaccination status (type and number of vaccinations, time since last vaccination, booster, etc.).

• You may, if allowed by policy and relevant laws, ask trainees to identify their status regarding vaccination against COVID-19 (including the type of vaccination, time since last vaccination, booster status, etc.). Trainees may choose to disclose their status or withhold that information. We recommend that you treat trainees who choose not to disclose their vaccination status as if they were unvaccinated.

• You may choose to be more conservative with infection precautions than government mandates require.

• Provide a large, well-ventilated space for training. The required space may have to be larger than was acceptable before the pandemic.

• No one, including the trainer, should participate in an in-person training if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 or have reason to believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19 within the last 14 days. Consider an assessment or affirmation by each participant, prior to any interaction with others, at the beginning of each training day. A participant who shows symptoms of COVID-19 or other communicable diseases during the class should be asked to leave immediately.

• All participants should be clearly informed that, while you will be taking steps to mitigate risk, any in-person gathering presents a risk of infection. They should affirm that they understand and are accepting that risk.

• Provide disposable face masks, hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, paper towels, and boxes of tissue in the training room in sufficient quantities for use throughout the training.

• Everyone in the class is expected to use hand sanitizer or hand washing between physical contact with different people.