4 Ways to Protect Office Workers from COVID-19
While the majority of employees who are able to have been working from home for the best part of a year due to the COVID-19 crisis, there are many reasons why your business might require some staff to be present in the office. And after a long period of working from home, many employees are happy to get back to some sort of normalcy and work from an environment that isn’t the kitchen table or a makeshift home office. However, the threat of spreading COVID-19 is still as real as ever before, so if you require your employees to be present in the office, it’s important to take the following steps to protect their health and wellbeing.
Allow
Flexible Working
Flexible working where
employees come into the office on certain days of the week and continue working
from home on the other days allows you to restrict the number of employees who
are in the office at any one time, therefore reducing the spread of COVID-19 as
a result. Rather than having everybody back in the office at once, this can act
as a staggered return to work and give employees the chance to readjust after a
long period of remote working too.
Sneeze
Guards
Most offices were not
set up with COVID-19 in mind, and if your office has desks that are close to or
next to each other, this could quickly become a risk factor for employees who
are coming into the business premises to work. Sneeze guards are clear
plexiglass guards that you can use to provide a protective barrier
between desks, while still allowing employees to easily communicate with each
other. Find out more about sneeze guards and other protective equipment
available at sneezeguardez.com.
Mask
Wearing
Wherever possible,
employees should wear a face mask or another type of face-covering when they
are in the workplace. Research has found
that masks are effective
in slowing the spread of COVID-19 by providing a barrier for droplets that come
from the mouth and nose when speaking, coughing, laughing, and sneezing. In
some states, asking your employees to wear masks when in the workplace may be
mandatory by state law. Employees should wear a mask wherever possible unless
they are unable to due to an underlying condition. It is best to continue to
allow employees with underlying health conditions to continue working from home
for their own safety.
Hand
Sanitizer
The past year has seen
more sales of hand sanitizer and handwashing soaps and gels than ever before.
Keeping your hands clean is still one of the most effective ways to protect
against COVID-19 since many infections are caused by a person touching an
infected surface and then touching their face. Provide a hand sanitizing
station at the entrance of your office for employees to use on their way in and
small bottles of hand sanitizer for each employee at their desk. To further
reduce the risk of infection, make sure that the office is deep cleaned daily
especially in high-touch areas like door handles and light switches.
Most office workers
have been able to stay safe by working from home, but in some industries, this
hasn’t been possible. If you have employees who are still coming into the
office during this pandemic, these are just a few of the most effective safety
measures to take.