Since the outbreak of COVID-19, business leaders worldwide have struggled with a number of challenges. After all, the pandemic’s extensive scope is entirely unfamiliar to most leaders. So quite naturally, the levels of uncertainty are high.
The key to mitigating any major crisis is simple: preparation. As a business leader, you need to do everything in your power to strengthen your organisation as a whole. So the question is, where do you start?
Today, we’ll walk you through some easy safety practices that will help your business minimise the spread of COVID-19.
7 Practices Business Can Adopt to Stop the Spread of COVID-19
The pandemic has definitely been a trying time for businesses around the world. Nevertheless, this is when leaders need to step up and do their part to stop its spread. Here are seven simple practices you can implement to reduce the spread of infection through your staff, clients, and visitors.
1. Work-From-Home is the Way to Go
This first step should be a no-brainer. With the spread of the pandemic, the best thing you can do is keep employees out of office. You want to avoid contact as much as possible. Many businesses have already made this switch, and so should you.
Consider developing a suitable remote working plan or policy. This policy should include the basics, like remote procedures, guidelines, and employee eligibility. You may also want to establish some rules around temporary work-from-home arrangements.
2. Give Your Cleaning Procedures a Once-Over
This point, too, may seem a little obvious. However, it should be emphasized that your old cleaning habits simply won’t cut it. The battle against the pandemic calls for improved cleaning measures as well as increased frequency of cleaning.
Here are a few simple steps you can take:
- Increased the frequency of your business cleaning
- Stash COVID-19 fighting soaps, sanitizers, and disinfectants all around your office
- Make regular desk disinfection a rule for office employees
- Enforce a strict policy of having sick employees stay home
- Encourage frequent handwashing
These health regulations will help to keep your workspace safe. Additionally, seeing them enforced will give employees peace of mind.
3. Make a Gradual Transition Back to the Office
When you do want to transition back to the office, try and take it slow. This measure is especially important if you’re a larger company with many employees. If that’s the case, calling all your workers back at once may not be the most sensible approach.
Instead, try to phase employees back into the office. This procedure involves calling a few employees back to work at a time. You can also consider alternating between groups of employees to work in-office on a weekly or monthly basis.
4. In-Office Physical Distancing and Other Preventive Measures
Naturally, for some businesses, remote working is not an option. In these cases, there are other simple solutions you can implement to ensure employee and customer safety.
Here are some examples:
- If possible, rearrange your workspace to create an appropriate distance between employees and customers.
- Replace in-person meetings with virtual ones.
- Limit necessary work travel while eliminating unnecessary work travel.
- Encourage physical distancing in routine practices. For example, tell employees to greet each other without shaking hands.
5. Arm Your Employees with the Right PPE
Respiratory and hand hygiene are of utmost importance right now, so if you have employees coming into work, equip them with the right safety equipment. To promote respiratory hygiene, distribute face masks around the office. Additionally, ensure that there are plenty of tissues available for the odd cough or sneeze. Adequate closed bins for disposal of such tissues are also a must.
While wearing masks and gloves is the employee’s responsibility, leaders also have a role here. Ensure your facility has enough facilities for washing hands, masks, and gloves whenever necessary. This will encourage hand hygiene.
6. Put Someone in Charge of Hygiene
Additional roles around the office are by no means new, but putting someone in charge of hygiene will be a change for most workplaces. Most offices put an employee in charge of office equipment, team socials, or fire safety. So why not appoint someone to oversee the office hygiene?
Some organisations are already following this practice, calling this post the ‘COVID compliance officer’. This officer’s responsibilities could include:
- Ordering equipment to ensure no shortage of stock
- Making sure alcohol gels and soap dispensers do not run out
- Keeping track of new COVID-19 prevention technologies and products
7. Formulate an Emergency Plan
As they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry. For this reason, it’s best to have an emergency plan in place if the worst comes to the worst. This plan will help you handle the situation properly if an outbreak does affect your business.
This plan should include:
- What to do if an outbreak occurs in your building
- Measures to protect employees
- How workers can contact you if there’s an emergency
- How business operations will continue if your business is affected
These seven simple steps will ensure you’re more than ready for the fight against COVID-19. Not only that, but they will keep you, your employees, and even your business safe during these trying times.
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