Although some people might be excited to return to work in the office, it is no surprise that others might be a little more apprehensive to do so. After over a year of witnessing the dangers of COVID-19 and working from home, working in close proximity to others can be a worrying thought. Therefore, it is essential to take the steps necessary to ensure that your office is COVID-safe.
According to the Health and Safety Executive, Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, and official Government guidance, here are 6 simple steps that you can take to ensure that your workplace is COVID-secure.
- Conduct a COVID-19 risk assessment
Employers are legally responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect people from harm. Therefore, a coronavirus risk assessment must: identify what activities or situations might cause transmission of the virus; consider who will be at risk; decide the likelihood of someone being exposed; and act to remove the activity or situation, or at least control the risk.
- Social distance where possible
Social distancing is necessary to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Where possible, it is recommended to keep a 2m social distance in place. If this is not possible, this may be reduced to 1m with additional control measures.
- Keep the environment clean and hygienic
In addition to regular cleaning with soap, water, and other cleaning products, it is necessary to implement rigorous maintenance procedures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
It is a good idea to schedule daily cleaning and disinfection of all high-touch surfaces in the office, such as keyboards, door handles, desks, and so on. You can also provide hand sanitising stations throughout the building and encourage thorough handwashing.
- Allow extra ventilation and air conditioning
Good ventilation, including air purifiers and air conditioning, can help to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. However, you also don’t want your employees to freeze or be subject to uncomfortable working conditions. Therefore, it might take a bit of trial and error before you find the sweet spot between good ventilation and a nice internal temperature.
- Consider a hybrid office solution
A hybrid office solution allows some employees to work from home whilst some are in the office or allows all employees to choose between home or office working on a daily basis. In order to do so, you might consider a serviced Office from BE Offices.
These serviced offices are a flexible working solution for companies of all sizes, easily scalable for businesses who have a hybrid office model. Plus, they are guaranteed to be COVID-secure, complete with daily day and night-time cleaning of the offices.
- Communicate clearly and efficiently
Finally, and most importantly, communicate everything that you are going to implement to your employees clearly and efficiently. This will reassure them that you are taking the necessary precautions to protect them and makes them aware of any changes to policies and procedures in advance.
Once you have everyone on board and clued up about your new precautions, this will help to support your approach, ensuring that your office becomes (and stays) COVID-safe and secure.