The rising global pandemic that is the 2020 Coronavirus is more than enough cause for concern within the workspace. As governments worldwide are enjoining businesses to allow remote work setups and to safeguard their physical office to mitigate the contraction of the virus. Sadly, not all businesses can adopt such a setup. Thus, their best efforts are exerted on the latter.
Both managers and employees share the same responsibility. Here’s how their concerted efforts can keep the workplace virus-free:
Improve air quality
Prevention starts with the first thing everyone encounters as they enter the office: the air. To maintain air quality, contact a Boise duct-cleaning expert. They should do a thorough job in cleaning your air ducts, which can serve as a breeding ground for bacteria, dirt, dust, and other dangerous allergens and particulates that cause illnesses.
To further enhance indoor air quality, consider investing in air purifiers that sift pollutants and other harmful particles from the air through disposable fiber filters.
Uphold better hygiene
The next step toward protection has to do with overall hygiene. Almost all health agencies actually endorse frequent hand washing as the best means to combat the Coronavirus. Thus, make sure your office is always stocked with anti-bacterial hand soaps and sanitizers.
Remind your employees to wash their hands during these events: before and after they eat, after using the restroom, after making contact with colleagues or common surfaces, and after coughing or blowing their nose.
Move work areas apart
If your office layout looks cramped and puts cubicles too close together, you might want to leave some space in between work stations so that the likelihood of passing off sickness is abated. This means moving desks at least a few meters apart or installing partitions to improve privacy.
However, take note that this does not imply the necessity for an open office layout. Open offices actually create more common spaces that allow more frequent interactions, giving pathogens have a better chance of spreading.
Keep stations clean
Speaking of work stations, make sure that all your team member’s desks are kept spick and span. Instruct regular maintenance of work stations. Wipe keyboards and computer mice with antibacterial sanitary wipes and scrub all wires, partitions, and surfaces where they might be in contact with colleagues. Remind them to dispose of their garbage as soon as possible. Clean all office appliances, especially those that are frequently used inside the copy room, break room, and bathroom.
Schedule vaccination days
With or without the threat of a global pandemic, companies should give employees annual flu vaccinations as part of their healthcare benefits. If not, now’s a good time to give them their shots.
If there’s enough budget in the bank, you can also distribute free medical face masks. Stay available. Make sure that employees can openly inform you if they are feeling unwell so that you can observe preventive measures as early as possible.
Be compassionate
In these challenging times, it pays to value your people’s welfare over any commercial objectives. Thus, as managers, try to implement more empathic work setups to protect your employees.
Be more lenient in approving rest days and sick leaves. Manage work expectations during these periods and avoid overworking them just to offset any delays caused by the virus scare.
Allow your employees to fulfill their tasks remotely. Within such a setup, you can instead work through digital work areas that are cloud-enabled and collaborative.
Nobody likes missing days off work because it means smaller pay. Thus, the best thing any business can do is to work together to keep themselves protected.
