April 9, 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Amano has developed the following guidelines for our staff and clients regarding to our work procedures and safety protocols. 
​
During the state of emergency, only essential landscaping and gardening work will be carried out. Please read below (Work Scope) on what we have determined to be essential.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at [email protected] or 613-656-1329

Amano Gardens: COVID-19 Work Guidelines

Staff

• Staff are required to work independently, with no co-workers or supervisors on site, for most of the work assigned during the lockdown regulations. 
• Staff are to maintain the recommended 6 ft distance with all other people they may encounter while working on their work assignment. 
• Staff is prohibited from entering the client's residential quarters. 
• Staff should consult with management if access to sheds, garages, or other structures is required. 
• Staff who consider themselves at higher risk (e.g., immuno-compromised, chronic disease, older age) are advised to stay in self-isolation at home and not take work shifts. 
• A mandatory self-assessment test will be required to each staff prior to taking a work assignment. The assessment is to be submitted to management the day before the work is scheduled. ​

Transportation: 

• ​Staff who rely on public transportation are advised to follow Ottawa Public Health precautions. 
• Amano advises against carpooling. 

​​Protective equipment:

• Amano provides staff with gloves (one clean pair per property per day), masks, and disinfectant. 
• Quantity of gloves provided to staff will depend on the number of shifts per week assigned per staff.
• Staff is to change gloves and put on a fresh pair for each property. 
• Staff is responsible for washing all used gloves at the end of their shift and getting them ready for another day.

​​Support:

• Amano will strive to find support for staff, for example by providing information on available services and how to access them. 

Clients

• Crew leaders and management are responsible for following up with clients over the phone and via email to discuss work scope and service delivery. 
• On-site consultations are discouraged unless deemed essential. 
• If necessary, on-site consultations will be carried out practicing social distancing as prescribed by public health officials i.e. maintaining 6 ft distance at all times. Clients will be required to wear masks if meeting staff on-site.

​Client’s properties

• Properties that require access through the residence to get to the backyard will not be served during the 2020 landscaping season, or until the threat of COVID-19 has passed.
• Only properties that have external access to the garden areas will be served (e.g., front yards, garden gates to backyard).

 
Work scope

• Amano will reduce the work scope of its operations while the City of Ottawa remains under COVID-19 emergency protocol. 
• Service requests will be carefully assessed to determine essential from non-essential work.
•  Only essential work will be performed until further notice. 
• Amano considers essential work is that which relates to maintenance such as:
  • spring clean up (e.g., debris pick up, raking to allow proper access to outdoor space) 
  • grass cutting, reduced to bi-weekly service, to avoid flowering grasses and weeds that exacerbate allergies and unkempt areas that could harbour pests (e.g., ticks)
  • pruning that cannot wait without significant negative consequences such as potential disease or loss of specimen
  • new or existing vegetable gardens work to help with food production and reduce the pressures on our food systems
• Amano considers non-essential work that which relates solely to aesthetics, such as: 
  • new design installations (except for those with the purpose of growing food)
  • rejuvenation of old gardens
  • new planting or sodding
  • mulching of garden beds will be assessed on a case-by-case to make a determination.

The default approach will be to postpone all work that can be delayed for later in the season without creating considerable hardship for plants and clients. 

• Work will be planned so as to be carried out on site by a maximum of one to three staff, and only where space allows for staff to maintain 6 ft distance at all times. 
• Work that requires more than one staff working in close proximity (e.g., lifting a heavy planter, planting a wire-basket size tree/shrub) will not be performed until further notice. 

 
Tools 

• Using provided disinfectant, tools will be cleaned:
  • at the beginning of each shift, and 
  • again before leaving each property.

 
Surfaces

• Staff will disinfect all applicable surfaces (e.g., water taps, gate latches, hose nozzles) before:
  • They start working.
  • Leaving the property. 

 
Supplies

• Amano will limit the amount of supplies required, purchased or provided to a minimum to decrease the need for staff, clients, or management to go shopping. 
• If purchased by Amano, all purchased supplies will be disinfected upon delivery to the client's property (when applicable, e.g., plastic bags of compost, plant pots). 
• If supplies are provided by a client, staff will disinfect them upon arriving at the property before they start working.