5 ways you can help make your workplace COVID-secure

In 2020, making a workplace secure to keep staff and customers safe, has become a vital part of how we now conduct business. To keep your workplace safe from coronavirus and transmission, here are 4 ways you can make your workplace COVID secure.

1. Conduct a Risk Assessment

Your business may already have a risk assessment in place for situations like potential accidents, but you should also conduct one for keeping your workplace secure from COVID-19.

Risk assessments may seem an extra unnecessary step to keep your workplace sanitised and safe, but in reality, it can help you to identify what areas of your operations pose the most risk for infection. 

‘You should start by updating your risk assessment to manage the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) in your business. This will help you to understand what you should do to work safely and protect people.’ – HSE Website

By using a risk assessment, you can put in place ways to prevent your workplace from catching, and spreading, Coronavirus. To get started in creating a risk assessment, visit the HSE’s webpage.

2. Have different cleaning methods for different areas

Depending on the operations of your business, there will be certain areas where the risk of infection is going to be higher. The most frequently used areas of your workplace should be where you focus your cleaning efforts when it comes to disinfecting and eliminating bacteria.  

All businesses need to use sufficient cleaning methods for different surfaces. Some surfaces such as handrails and tables should be cleaned daily with proper disinfectant, however, you can’t do the same for soft furnishings like chairs.

To help make your COVID-19 cleaning practices more efficient, research what types of products and methods you should use to clean your workplace.  

3. Keep office numbers low

One of the best ways to prevent the risk of infection in a workplace is to reduce the number of people in that space. By reducing the people who have to come into the building, you reduce those who will get infected and spread the virus.

Depending on your workplace’s activities, it is best for your staff, where possible, to work from home. Take into account that staff members may need to be provided with IT equipment, so if you are giving them assets, ensure they are sanitised and safe for their use.

4. Protect your devices first

If your business operations require staff to be at your facility, ensure the items they touch most often are cleaned regularly and thoroughly. The obvious high-traffic places like bathrooms and cafeterias are important to sanitise as they receive a lot of interaction throughout the day. However, surfaces like our keyboards and mouses are often forgotten and much harder to manually clean.

The COVID-19 virus can survive on surfaces for up to 9 days, and if our computer assets are not disinfected, this presents a high risk of infection for users. Along with this, assets given to home workers could have the virus harbored on their surfaces, so ensure any devices which leave your business are virus-free.

If you are providing devices to be used by your at-home staff, find out how we can help provide COVID-secure IT assets.

5. Communicate with staff

The current pandemic can be a difficult situation for many employees. As a workplace, it is crucial to ensure the mental and physical wellbeing of those working there. One way to help keep your business COVID secure is through communicating with staff to make sure their concerns about being at work are discussed and any uncertainties are dealt with.

Check-in with staff on a regular basis and offer support to those who might need it. If you have staff returning to work from furlough, ask them if they have any worries which you could help with before they come back. This would ensure your staff feel safe when at work, and stay healthy.

For more information on keeping healthy at work, visit The Mental Health Foundation website.

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