Winter is approaching and with many employers looking to bring staff back into the office, keeping your workplace healthy and preventing the spread of COVID-19 is a top concern for every business. Here are a few tips and best practices which can help:
Promote Hand Washing and Etiquette
Make hand hygiene a top priority in your office. Be sure employees are aware of effective hand washing practices, such as washing for at least 20 seconds and using soap. Also encourage people to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue rather than their bare hand. If tissues aren’t readily available, coughing into an elbow or sleeve is still a better alternative than a bare hand. Here is a useful guide to promoting these practices.
It’s also important to make necessary supplies like tissues, soap, and alcohol-based hand sanitisers readily available for employees to use. Posting the above policies and suggestions in bathrooms, hallways, in kitchens or break rooms, near elevators and around other high-traffic areas is something many companies have done.
Offer Home-Working and Flexible hours
Employees showing any signs of fever, respiratory issues and even a common cold should stay home until they are symptom free. To make this easier on your team, be sure that your sick leave policies are flexible and that all employees are well aware of them. You also need to communicate with contract employees and service providers who send people into your office about your policies and the importance of sick employees staying home. If your policy requires a doctor’s note or other validation to approve sick leave, consider changing it for the short-term. This requirement could inadvertently encourage ill employees to come into the office endangering others and place a burden on our healthcare providers during an already busy time. It’s also a good idea to have flexible policies that allow employees to care for sick family members or to work from home to care for children while schools are closed or if their family has been impacted in other ways.
Perform more regular workplace cleaning
Keeping your workplace clean will go a long way in helping to prevent the spread of this virus. Be sure that all frequently touched surfaces are included in your routine cleaning, which is recommended at least twice a day. This includes workstations, countertops, doorknobs, light switches, restrooms, water coolers, kitchen or break areas, and any shared equipment. Use cleaning agents that are intended for disinfecting these types of areas and follow the directions on the label. You should also provide disposable wipes for employees to wipe down commonly used surfaces before each use.
Pro-Serve Can Help
Pro-Serve are experts in cleaning in both residential and commercial environments. Many retailers and offices across Yorkshire trust Pro-Serve to help them maintain a healthier environment for their employees and customers. Our team is prepared to help you achieve and maintain a healthier environment. We offer an industry-leading cleaning package that is designed to keep your space cleaner and safer. We offer deep cleaning for a variety of surfaces including hospital-grade sanitisers that are proven to kill viruses and bacteria.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you maintain a safer, healthier workplace.
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