5 Habits To Inculcate To Prevent The Spread Of Corona

With almost every place reopening worldwide, companies are now gearing up to welcome their employees again. For this, nearly every workplace is making plans to resume its operations safely. However, reopening offices after a major global pandemic can be tricky, especially with business owners having no experience doing so.

While each business may have unique obstacles to overcome after the lockdown period, a common concern among many is getting their workspace COVID ready. For this, we have come up with a super-simple five-step guide. It will provide you an insight into all the necessary measures you need to take to get your office up and running after the COVID-19 crisis. Let’s read on- 

1. Determine Whether Your Workplace Can Legally Reopen    

Before anything else, ensure that you can legally reopen your workspace. Also, jot down all the restrictions that must be put in place to do so. While most of the businesses are reopening worldwide, some provinces continue to have emergency orders. If your workplace falls in such an area, it is not a great idea to reopen it.

At the same time, some areas are allowed to resume operations. However, you need to follow numerous policies, guidelines, and procedures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at your workplace. Make sure you are aware of all these before you decide to get your workspace COVID ready.

2. Assess Hazards in the Workplace and Choose Disinfecting and Cleaning Services

After you know there are no legal restrictions for reopening your workplace, move on to getting it COVID ready. For this, conduct a thorough hazard assessment for COVID-19 transmission in your office building. Do not just consider the place where your employees will be sitting. Instead, take into consideration the entire path they will take to reach there.

In your assessment, ensure to include risks that can arise from any of these places. Once you have mapped the entire area and know how to control the Coronavirus transmission there, consult the best disinfecting and cleaning services. Always trust experienced and reputed cleaners like phs group for this purpose. Also, make sure to provide flat extension cord to improve worksite safety.

3. Develop and Implement Necessary Measures for COVID Safety

Only disinfecting and cleaning your entire workplace is not enough. There are several measures that you need to develop and implement for the safety of your workforce. Some of them include:

• Avoid ‎mass arrivals/departures.
• Regulate the use of masks.
• Limit the number of workers in small spaces.
• Demarcate standing spots in common areas, elevators, and escalators.
• You can consider building physical barriers to follow social distancing norms.
• Maintain a tobacco-free workplace.
• Do not allow any non-essential activities in the workspace.
• Avoid large in-person meetings as much as possible. If necessary, consider holding them in a well-ventilated area.
• Remove any item that is difficult to clean.
• Do not allow unexpected visitors at your workplace.
• Discourage your employees from using each other’s phones or any work tools.
• Regulate daily screenings and temperature checks.
• Keep hand sanitizers handy throughout your office.
• If the conditions allow, increase outdoor air ventilation.
• Take measures to improve central air filtration.
• Make sure to look after the building water system too.
• Do not limit the cleaning and disinfecting services to one-time. Make sure this is regular and frequent.
• Lastly, you must plan well in advance for what to do if any of your employees turn out to be Corona positive‎.

4. Keep Your Employees, Customers, and Visitors Informed

It is common for your employees to have health and safety concerns when informing them about reopening their workspace. The same goes for your customers and visitors. They would like to know if it is safe to enter your building. In such a case, effective communication is the key. Keep your workforce and other visitors in the loop about all the measures you are taking to ensure that your workplace is COVID safe.

You can also consider giving your employees the necessary COVID management training before resuming their work from the office. Educate them on the steps that they can take to keep themselves and the others safe. Educate them that they should come showered and put on clean clothes everyday (recommend using twin wash). For the visitors, you can hire a person to enlighten them about safety measures at your place. Also, ensure that your clients and customers know about the delays they can face due to the COVID crisis.

5. Continue to Monitor Your Workforce

If medical health experts are to be believed, this new normal will continue to be an issue for months to come. Therefore, once you have your workspace COVID ready and your employees are back to work, you cannot stop implementing necessary COVID safety measures. Even if all your employees are tested negative, or do not show any symptoms, continue to monitor them.

Do not let your workforce and visitors skip the daily screening and temperature checks. Ask the employees who have COVID symptoms to stay home. If on testing, the results are positive, take necessary measures. If any of your employees stay with someone who is sick, ask them to work from home.

The Bottom Line

The easy five-step guide given above is perfect for any employer who wishes to get their workspace COVID ready. With all these necessary measures, you will be able to resume your operations within no time. However, you might need to add some essential steps depending on your business’s nature to keep your staff safe from the global pandemic.