Keeping clean at the office during the COVID pandemic
Posted by Yitzchok Block on
While many offices have been closed during the recent pandemic, some essential offices have been forced to stay open. Nevertheless coming into work should not mean that necessary safety precautions should not be taken. Here are a few tips to keep your employees healthy and safe while staying productive.
1. Wash Your Hands
Make washing hands as a part of your office's daily routine. Doctors and nurses wash as part of their day so can everyday employees. Place hand sanitizer stations throughout your office and encourage your employees to wash before entering and exiting the office or before and after using the bathroom. Give employees enough time to wash their hands and access to soap, clean water, and paper towels. Post signs encouraging frequent hand washing and send an office-wide e-mail encouraging hygienic activities at work and at home.
2. Practice Sneezing and Coughing Etiquette.
Encourage employees to cover their mouth and nose every time they cough or sneeze. Using a disposable tissue or piece of cloth reduces the risk of spreading droplets of the virus or flu. Make sure there are plenty of boxes of disposable tissues laying around in the office in case one needs to sneeze.
3. Go Touch Free
Limit the surfaces your employees need to touch with their hands by installing touch-free devices. Doors do not need handles and can swing open both ways by just pushing them with your foot or shoulder. Install touch-free tissue dispensers in the bathroom and wash stations. Install Motion lights in all rooms, including bathrooms. (Doing this is also environmentally friendly).
4. Clean Your Workstation
Employers should encourage employees and housekeeping staff to routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as keyboards, remote controls, desks, countertops, and doorknobs. Add extra cleaning staff and routinely wash all common areas multiple times a day.
5. Keep vulnerable at home
While some offices need their employees to come into the office. Technology has made it easier to work and manage employees remotely. If it is not possible to keep your employees at home make sure they get tested regularly.