Issued by the General Manager on September 30, 2022

Update to Face Covering Guidance

Effective Monday, October 3, 2022, face coverings are no longer required regardless of vaccination status in City facilities, including LADWP (indoors or outdoors, regardless of physical distance). This applies to both employees and visitors. Physical distancing requirements are also no longer in effect.

While this is welcomed news for many people, some employees may still decide to continue wearing a mask for a variety of reasons. Wearing a mask is a personal choice, as is the decision to socially distance. All employees should respect each other’s choice of whether to wear a mask or not. And I encourage employees to wear face coverings if they simply feel uneasy in the office space or elevators, or in more crowded situations.

Local COVID transmission in the County of Los Angeles has remained in the low (green) tier as established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The percentage of employee-to-employee transmission in our workforce has been remarkably low thanks to effective mitigation strategies, such as face covering requirements, cleaning protocols, physical distancing, and each employee’s personal awareness. The Department will continue to provide ASTM-rated surgical masks and/or N95 respirators, available at the Security kiosks at every facility, for those who request one.

Face coverings are still required in certain settings, such as the healthcare setting of our in-house medical group, Occupational Health Services. Additionally, if you have been exposed to a confirmed positive person, you are still required by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to wear a face covering for 10 days from exposure, regardless of vaccination status, and contact the Resource Office (RO) at (213) 367-4444 for information about testing, if applicable.

As always, if you are feeling unwell, or have flu-like symptoms, do not come to work.

If you do test positive, please contact the RO positive hotline at (213) 367-6888. You will be directed about isolating, testing, and using available banks of time to cover during your illness.

An additional bulletin detailing the process to deal with exposures and positive COVID tests will come out next week from Corporate Safety.

We will continue to monitor the situation both at LADWP and in the community around us and will modify our strategies as necessary to best ensure the health and safety of our workforce. Thank you again for your cooperation during the pandemic and for doing your part to keep the workplace safe while we continue to serve our customers.

MARTIN L. ADAMS
General Manager and Chief Engineer