Offices are re-opening after the Covid-19 pandemic and employees return to their jobs; we must apply certain security measures in offices since the virus continues to be among us and there is still the risk of contagion.
In this post, we are providing a detailed Covid-19 safety guide for offices.
Covid-19 Safety Guide for Offices
If your office is going to reopen its doors and the employees are returning to their jobs, you must bear in mind that Covid-19 has not yet over and there is still a risk of contagion.
Here are some security measures that can be implemented in offices:
Controlled Entry
To avoid crowds at the entrance and reception of your office, if possible, the arrival of workers should be controlled. For this, you can have different entry and exit times and this will help to maintain the safety distance at the entrances.
Temperature Check-up
Workers should get their temperatures measured before entering the office and if it is higher than 37.5º, the person should immediately be rushed to the doctor and checked for the Covid-19 infections.
Using Masks and Gloves
Currently, the use of a mask is only mandatory in certain circumstances (public transports and spaces where the safety distance cannot be maintained) but an office is a private place and is not subjected to these rules. However, in the places where the safety distance cannot be maintained, a mask should be worn (e.g. elevators, narrow corridors, common areas, etc.).
Also, the use of gloves is recommended when it is necessary to operate or handle shared equipment.
Basic Hygiene Rules
Workers should be reminded of the need to wash their hands regularly. For this, reminder posters can be placed in the toilets and all the other common areas. Also, it is advisable to place sanitizer dispensers in different areas of the office, especially at the entrance and common areas.
- If photocopiers or other equipment are for community use, gloves should be used to operate them.
- Do not use cutlery and crockery from the dining room or common area of the office and tell workers to bring the utensils they need from home.
- Do not lend office or work materials and if you do, disinfect them using alcohol.
- All the workers should be advised to bring the necessary utensils from home and should not lend any tools without disinfecting them.
Cleaning and Maintenance
If possible, get the office cleaned at least once a day.
Ensure that the cleaning service carries out adequate cleaning and disinfection of all common contact points, such as stair handrails, switches, buttons, door and window handles, telephones, tables, etc.), as well as air conditioning filters.
Social Distancing
It is important to maintain the minimum safety distance of 2 meters whenever possible. To ensure this, marks can be placed on the floor with adhesive tape in common areas of the office and at the reception.
- Movement flows within the office must also be controlled. However, this will depend on the layout of the floor and the available space.
- Remind employees to avoid unnecessary movements within the office, huddles, and crowds.
- The number of people who can use the toilets at the same time will depend on their size, but the general recommendation is that there should only be one person inside the toilet.
- If the office occupies more than one floor, it is recommended to use the stairs to get around them. In the case of using the elevator, depending on its size, it may be necessary to limit its maximum capacity to one or two people.
- The capacity of common areas like the dining room, cafeteria, and kitchen should be reduced.
External Visits
Visitors should wait at the reception and maintain a safe distance. To ensure that there is no crowding of people, it is best to schedule and limit the number of visitors.
Information Signs
It is advisable to place information signs in different areas of the office in which the basic rules of hygiene, movement, and distance are placed so that workers always know how to act.
Also, workers should be informed about the action protocols to follow in case they suspect that they may be infected.
Coworking Spaces
If our office is located in a coworking building, where multiple startups share the space and common areas with other companies, workers must follow the security measures implemented by the building management.
Also, most of the above safety measures apply for the co-working spaces too.
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