Keep your Employees and Customers Safe during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has altered how we live our lives in unprecedented ways. Ever since it broke out, there’s no part of the world including the business sector that hasn’t felt the biting effect of the scourge.

As a business, it’s therefore important that you put the safety and welfare of your employees and customers first. In this article, we share important insights to help you in ensuring that your business is a safe haven of operations.

Disinfecting and cleaning your workspace

You need to be proactive in cleaning the areas and surfaces that are frequently used. Have people that carry the responsibility of disinfecting the high-touch surfaces throughout the day. If you can have someone that’s stationed to clean the surface every time a person touches, you’ll stand a better chance at repulsing the disease-causing virus and germs.

Also, you should have relevant visual aids such as posters, charts, and checklists in strategic places where people coming in or using the building can spot them. You have the liberty to decide on a custom plan that’s easy to implement and for people to follow. The following is a cleaning approach you could take to maintain a clean and safe workplace.

Plan

Not every area of your space requires cleaning and disinfecting. For example, the areas that are not frequently used or accessed by people can only require routine cleaning. The emphasis and focus should be on the high-touch surfaces that include elevators, doorknobs, countertops, sinks, and items around service areas. The first step is to determine how many of these areas are available in your business.

Next, determine the number of people needed to ensure the area is kept clean throughout your hours of operation. If one person isn’t enough to cover these areas, especially if the size of the business is large, you might need to have two or more persons handling this responsibility.

The next step is to think about the resources needed for the work to be done. These include cleaning products and PPE supplies that the employees require to maintain the business environment.

Implement

Provide the janitorial team with the guidelines on how to carry out the cleaning process. The first step should be to clean all the dirty surfaces with water and soap. After, they should use strong and expert-recommended disinfectants to rid the surfaces of any surviving viruses and germs.

Before buying the disinfecting agents, take time to read the labels to ensure they’ve got the capacity to safeguard against Covid-19. Follow the guidelines provided on the label on how to apply the disinfectants while adhering to all the safety precautions. During the cleaning process, you should also replace the air filters to improve the quality of air around the working space.

Sustain

After you’ve established a cleaning and disinfecting routine, you’ll need to stay on top of it. Don’t feel shy to revise or adjust the cleaning schedule depending on the need at hand. So long as you’re sure that you’ve got things under firm control, you can make the necessary adjustments.

However, persistence and consistency are important if you’re to keep your workplace safe throughout. The team you’ve entrusted with this responsibility will need to show a high level of discipline so that they help you build extra layers of protection for your employees and customers.

Tips for retail spaces

• Cleaning around retail spaces might require specialized attention given that you’ve got more foot traffic. The following are some of the tips that can help your janitorial team do the right thing.
• Door handles, doorknobs, touchscreens, baskets, carts, light switches, and other high-touch to be cleaned regularly.
• Have deep cleaning sessions every week using approved disinfectants.
• Keep sanitizing hand sanitizers and wipes in high traffic areas such as common areas, entrances, and restrooms.
• Cashiers and other employees who can’t leave their station to be provided with alcohol-based (at least 60%) sanitizers.

Physical distancing at the premises

Find ways to regulate the number of people accessing your premises at any given time. For example, you can have some of your employees work from their homes or consider adopting flexible hours.

• Space out the employees so that they aren’t crammed up in one place. Have several workspaces with the fewest number of occupants as possible.
• Encourage the staff to create one-way traffic through hallways and aisles.
• Conduct meetings through conference calls.
• Discourage employees from being in the same place at once by staggering breaks.
• Cancel any trips by employees that might expose everyone in the organization to a higher risk of contracting the virus.
• Encourage personal responsibility by employees in keeping their workspace safe. “Protecting yourself to protect others.”

As a caring business owner, you can use these tips to safeguard your employees and customers from catching the Covid-19 disease. Remember, success comes with being consistent in adhering to the safety protocols and standards.

Photo by Matilda Wormwood from Pexels