After months of working from home, businesses all over the country are cheering in unison at the prospect of opening up their doors. But in the wake of the pandemic, it’s essential to make the necessary precautions to ensure your workspace remains safe, healthy and COVID-free.
Whether you’re a small business or large corporation, there are plenty of ways to prep your office and staff for a safe return. From sanitising stations and surface wipes to social distancing and cleaning schedules, we’ve pulled together some helpful tips and essential buys to ensure your back to work strategy is a complete success.
Follow the social distance rule
Ensure desks, meeting rooms and communal areas are appropriately distanced, keeping to the 1.5m social distancing rule. Display floor marks, signs and posters around your office space to remind people to keep their distance from each other. You can print out posters for free on the Safe Work Australia website.
Set up sanitising stations
Scatter sanitisers around the office to encourage people to keep their hands clean and germ free. Make sure they know how to use them effectively. The more you have accessible, the more likely it is that people will use them.
Invest in antibacterial hand wash
Keep bathrooms and kitchens fully stocked with antibacterial hand wash.
Remind your staff how to wash hands correctly with this handy poster. That way you can eliminate the spread of any nasty germs.
As an added touch, place hand creams around the office to stop skin from drying out.
Encourage staff to clean as they go
Germs and illness are often spread via surfaces, so keep out cleaning wipes and disinfectant along with reminders that staff should clean any surface they’ve come into contact with. Particularly desk spaces and high traffic areas — if staff are sharing desk spaces, kitchen counters, bathrooms and cupboards, encourage everyone to wipe down every surface after use.
Organise shifts
Map out a socially distanced floor plan ensuring desks are 6ft or more apart. Implement a shift system so you can determine how many people should be in the office at once. That way you can control the space between each employee.
Provide protective equipment
Provide your staff with masks, thermometers and gloves. This will give them peace of mind you’re taking the necessary precautions and preventing any further spread.
Arrange virtual meetings
Try to avoid any communal gatherings in the workplace. Maintain virtual meetings wherever possible, that way everyone can participate freely without coming into contact with one another.
Keep visitors to a minimum
Unless absolutely necessary, try to limit the amount of external visitors passing through the office. Prohibit personal package deliveries and limit shared snacks, coffee stations etc. to decrease the amount of shared surfaces.
Increase cleaning schedule
Improve professional cleaning and disinfecting procedures within the office to reduce the occurrence of germs and bacteria in the workplace. Make sure appropriate signage is displayed throughout the office, invest in powerful cleaning disinfectants and increase the frequency of your professional cleaning schedule.
