Contactless delivery, work from home, and binge-watching Netflix series, all this has been a part of our lives for four months. But as we recover from this pandemic, working in an office would be different from now onwards! Social distancing would be the new normal, which we all must adopt!
In this article, we bring to you five practical tips that will ensure your office is abiding all the social distancing norms!
1. Disinfecting and cleaning the office furniture:
There is enough evidence that the SARS-COV2 may remain transferable on materials for hours and days. Thus, it is a good practice to clean and disinfect the surfaces from time to time to avoid the spread of COVID -19 or other respiratory diseases.
- How can you do this?
To ensure that this activity successful, you need to team up with the office cleaning staff and also advise them to take proper care while cleaning the furniture. Make available all the necessary supplements like hand sanitizers, gloves, disinfectants, etc. which are required for them to clean your office space thoroughly.
2. Make modifications to your existing furniture:
As we are all set to reopen our offices soon with a 50% workforce, we must make some changes in the office furniture so that we abide by the social distancing norms. To begin with, we can ensure that the work stations are at a distance of six feet from each other. Also, within the office, it should be assured that everyone follows a single commute path to avoid close contact as much as possible.
3. Ensure social distancing in vulnerable areas:
- In washrooms:
Vulnerable spaces or communal spaces like restrooms or reception areas are usually at high risk because the footfall of people is generally high! As a business owner, you can create separate paths for going to these places or create markers for people to wait for their turn.
- In cafeterias:
Encourage employees to bring their lunch boxes to work rather than going to cafeterias. TCS has reduced the number of stalls selling packaged food or ready-to-eat food on its premises so that people don’t gather in large numbers.
- In reception areas:
Earlier receptions doubled up waiting areas for clients or others. But now, things have changed. We can set up hand sanitizer machines near the waiting areas, ask people to remove their footwear and enter the premises. Precautions like wearing gloves and doing hand sanitization must be mandatory at coffee vending machines.
4. Say ‘Hi’, again to the cubicles:
Over the past few years, many offices had started adopting “open-office structures” and had bid farewell to the cubicles, but due to the outburst of Covid-19, people have started valuing their private space.
In such tough times to continue with the open-office culture is not recommended. Hence plexiglass cubicles have replaced them. Many offices in the country have started installing plexiglass cubicles or dividers to ensure the safety of their employees.
5. Revamp your air filtration and ventilation process:
portrait of mid-adult male technician repairing air conditioner
Covid-19 usually spreads when someone coughs, sneezes or talks, and the droplets come in contact. Some particles in the form of droplets get evaporated when the air-conditioners are working, but the problem arises when they are small particles.
They usually linger in the air. One of the ways to reduce this risk is by upgrading the AC systems, or if there is a budget constraint, you can also install an air purifier in your office. Instead, the best possible way to tackle this is by opening the windows of your office and turning off the AC.
Wrapping Up!
By taking all these measures, you can reopen your office space and start your work again! But if you feel like, I’m still confused about whether it is possible to enforce social distancing in the office? Look no further and give us a call and be assured that your office is social distancing compliant! Book your appointment for a free assessment today!
