According to a recent survey, nearly half of US companies plan to adopt a hybrid work model in 2021. Meanwhile, a third of companies expect their employees to return to the office (if they haven’t already).
The Future of Work: Decontamination and Employee Safety
What does this mean for you? Like most businesses, you’re no doubt prioritizing employee safety as variants of COVID-19 continue to circulate.
Here are some actionable steps you can take as far as office decontamination and other efforts to keep everyone healthy and safe.
1. Focus on Office Decontamination
With an ongoing pandemic, your old office cleaning procedures probably need a reboot. A quick spray and wipe at the end of the day won’t be enough to ward off COVID-19 and other contagious germs.
Make sure you’re taking all three of these steps when you clean the office:
- Cleaning (removing dirt, dust, and debris from surfaces)
- Sanitizing (kills bacteria on surfaces)
- Disinfecting (kills bacteria and viruses on surfaces)
Set up hand sanitizer stations at convenient locations throughout your office. If necessary, create a roster of cleaning tasks for your staff to tackle throughout the workday. Better yet, hire professional janitorial services to ensure the job gets done right.
2. Reduce Occupancy & Encourage Physical Distancing
One reason companies are shifting to a hybrid work model is because it’s easy to reduce the number of people in the workspace. For example, you could stagger starting and ending times so no one has to rely on public transportation during rush hour.
You can also adopt a “part-time” work-from-home schedule and allow your employees to stay home two or three days a week. Rotate the days they need to come to the office so you never have everyone there at the same time.
For businesses that must have their employees physically present, keep practicing physical distancing. Space out workstations and break tables at least six feet apart and use plastic partitions in your waiting room and at your reception desk.
If the climate allows, open the windows and let fresh air circulate throughout your office. In fact, improving ventilation is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
3. Encourage Vaccination & Testing
Relatively few companies (with the exception of schools and medical facilities) are mandating that their employees get vaccinated. We’ll see if this changes in the future, once the vaccines are fully approved by the FDA.
In the meantime, it’s up to you to encourage your employees to get vaccinated, if they haven’t already done so. And regardless of whether they’re vaccinated or not, tell your employees to stay at home if they’re not feeling well.
Rapid tests are readily available and affordable, so encourage them to get tested before their return to the office.
Make Employee Health & Safety Your Priority
Until the pandemic is behind us for good, employee safety needs to be a top concern for all business owners. Office decontamination is an important part of the puzzle, but it’s not the only one.
Use the tips outlined above to ensure a safe return to the office for all.
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