While studies have long shown that a clean, tidy workplace is important to employee satisfaction, since business norms and health practices have been turned upside down by the Covid-19, a clean workplace is crucial. There are a number of best practices that can help keep your employees safe and healthy.
#1. Keep your facility restrooms stocked with paper towels and hand sanitizer. Keep more hand sanitizer — and sanitizing wipes — near frequently touched surfaces.
#2. Install a hand-sanitizing station at the workplace entrances for employees and visitors. This is especially useful for employees who regularly use mass transit to get to work.
#3. Regularly clean and sanitize all frequently used surfaces. These can include counters, ledges, tables, workstations, elevator buttons, staircases, and doorknobs, printer and copy machines, shared phones and keyboards.
#4. Make sure you communicate to your employees, contractors and visitors that frequent handwashing is important – and expected. If possible, add additional hand washing and/or cleaning stations around the workplace to encourage compliance.
#5. If you don’t have a dishwasher in your lunch/break room, consider investing in one. As an alternative, make sure all dishware is washed by soaking them in 170-degree water for at least 30 seconds — or in a sanitizing solution of 1 tablespoon. of bleach per I gallon of cool water for at least a minute. Consider stocking up on disposable utensils and plates and cups or ask employees to bring their own.
#6. If possible, consider closing non-essential common areas, such as fitness centers and kitchens/break rooms.
#7. Increase frequency and your regular office cleaning. Get your carpets cleaned every 6 months by Newport Coast Carpet cleaners.
#8. Keep workplace at about 65-69 degrees and keep humidity at 40 percent, to discourage viral growth.
#9. Limit sharing of equipment to reduce the potential for cross-contamination.
#10. Eliminate shared workspaces, too, if possible. Move workstations to better facilitate social distancing. Repurpose conference rooms and empty offices to create new workspaces.
Finally, you may work with a commercial trash removal company for your waste collection and management needs. Timely commercial junk removal can help keep your workplace clean and healthy.
Once you have your protocols in place, consider confirming that your efforts have been effective with surface testing. For instance, surface testing from Accelerated Diagnostics can swab workplace surfaces to make sure they are pathogen-free and return the results in 48 hours. Accelerated Diagnostics is a Milwaukee-based company that focuses on drug screening, drugs of abuse testing and COVID testing.
“We know smart companies value their workforce above everything,” said Dave Metzger, president of Accelerated Diagnostics. “Since the Covid crisis began, our team has working with companies around the country to help companies keep their employees safe.”
The current situation with COVID-19 can be full of uncertainty. But being as proactive possible and knowing how to react to changing circumstances can go a long way toward keeping your employees — and your business — healthy. CLICK HERE to download our FREE Guide to Keeping Control During COVID-19.
