We've all seen restaurant windows glittered with Zagat, Grubhub, and other stickers signaling that delicious cuisine awaits inside. As businesses re-open across Chicago, the City is offering another decal to signal safety: the Be Safe. Chicago: Business Self-Certification badge. 

This program allows businesses, such as restaurants, bars, nail salons, and other companies, to broadcast that they are taking meaningful steps toward reducing the transmission of COVID-19. After reviewing industry guidelines and developing a re-opening plan, businesses participate in a survey self-certifying that definitive and important safety measures are in place. If the business qualifies for self-certification, it will receive a badge to post in a prominent location. The City is also encouraging self-certifiers to post on social media under #BeSafeChicago. 

The survey asks the following (paraphrased) safety-related questions: 

• Have you reviewed appropriate industry guidelines?

• Have you restructured to accommodate for social distancing?

• Have you closed non-essential common areas and limited gatherings to no more than 10 people at a time?

• Do you require employees and customers to wear face coverings and PPE, according to industry guidelines?

• Have you ensured the availability of hand sanitizer?

• Have you suspended the use of shared items, where possible?

• Have you conducted employee safety training, such as for handwashing?

• Are you committed to ensuring employees stay home if they run a temperature at or above 100 degrees or experience COVID-19 symptoms?

• Do you provide visual guidance for social distancing and entry requirements?

• Do you encourage employees to work remotely, when possible?

• Have you structured operations to reduce employee overlap, where possible?

• Are you committed to reporting and tracing protocols, per industry guidelines?

• How do you plan to go above and beyond the guidelines? (The City is looking for "creative and innovative" approaches.)

The survey also requires the self-certifier to include a detailed description of the company's plan to re-open.

Self-certifying may impact consumer behavior. It also appears to be a meaningful way to communicate a company's health and safety efforts to employees, customers, and the community generally.