Colorado Springs Dominos says it’s complying with governor’s order after employee raises concern

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Health officials are responding to concerns over restaurant workers and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in El Paso County.

KRDO NewsChannel 13 found that some employees at a Colorado Springs Dominos were making pizzas without masks and gloves.

The governor's public health order requires critical employees to wear masks and it recommends workers wear gloves.

KRDO was contacted by an employee of Dominos on Jet Wing Drive last week. The employee told KRDO they were concerned for the health of staff and the "hundreds of people" they serve.

The employee, who doesn't want to be identified, sent KRDO pictures taken from inside the Dominos. In those photos, two workers are clearly seen not wearing a mask covering or gloves.

Management at the Jet Wing Drive Dominos declined an on-camera interview but said they've been complying with the governor's public health orders to the best of their ability.

The store managers told KRDO it's difficult to police employees and say that working around hot ovens can make conditions tough for employees to constantly wear face coverings.

The El Paso County Health Department would not comment specifically on the situation at the Jet Wing Drive Dominos but said there can be exceptions.

"If they are there in the back cooking over a hot stove cooking by themselves and there's nobody around them and they're moving things down the line," Keith Siemsen said. "Absolutely not. We're not going to require people to wear masks in that situation because there's an unsafe element to that, no question."

Siemsen is the El Paso County Health Department Environmental Division Director who oversees enforcement issues. He said that if a businesses is found to be in violation, the health department can cite it, but prefers to educate and give warnings before getting to that point.

The dining room at the Jet Wing Drive location is closed. Managers tell KRDO the only contact workers inside have with the public is through a drive-thru window.

Dominos' corporate website indicates stores have provided additional good hygiene training to employees and is taking extra disinfecting measures of surfaces.

When asked about critical workers not wearing gloves, the health department said workers are advised to wear gloves, but those gloves need to be changed frequently to avoid cross-contamination.

"If you put on a glove right now and stick it in the trash can and pull your gloved hand back out it's not clean anymore," Siemsen. "The glove is not magic. It doesn't make things disappear or go away."

The Jet Wing Drive Domino's passed its last three annual health inspections, including one this February. They did, however, receive a violation in February when they didn't have enough sanitizer in the dishwasher soap and wiping cloth buckets. The health department records show that both violations were corrected immediately on site.

The Dominos franchise management issued this statement about the concerns on Monday:

"At Dominos, we take very seriously the condition of the world we are living in today.  The novel coronavirus has had a profound impact on our way of life and is requiring sacrifices.

While people shelter at home, we are out safely supplying our customers with freshly made meals.  Following the advice of health and safety experts we have several practices in place the ensure the safety of our employees and the general public. 

While dining areas are closed, we offer carryout, curbside pickup and delivery.  We require contactless delivery on all delivery orders. Our personnel are all required to wear masks and food handlers also must wear gloves as much as possible/when coming into contact with the public."

On the local level we ordered masks the same day the CDC said that they would help and before the governor required their use. Also, on the local level, we have supplied our delivery drivers with hand sanitizer to keep in their cars."

"Employees that are sick are advised to remain at home and if employees in the store show symptoms they are sent home.  We have hand sanitizer in our stores and several handwashing stations in each store."

"In addition to regular store cleaning regimens, touchpoint cleaning is a regular practice in our stores and is completed several times daily.  
We do our best every day to operate our stores in a safely, efficiently and healthful way to supply our
customers."