The lives of people around the world changed dramatically after the coronavirus broke out. If you look back, not just the life before 2019, you will find the extent to which your life has changed in these two years. Those were the days when we used to pack inside the tiny elevators without raising our eyebrows. Now we need to encourage social distancing in the workplace and everywhere that we congregate.
We used to enjoy joining crowds of people in gatherings and festivals, and didn’t even consider social distancing and just enjoyed the moment. Such activities have become a dream now. Now we are always alarmed by the presence of large groups of people. Workplaces in particular, need to encourage social distancing.
Right now, maintaining the workflow in order to go on with essential life has become a challenge. Social distancing has become a norm and people have to incorporate it in every aspect of their lives. Several people are facing a bit of inconvenience in this process however there is no other way. Here, we are going to talk about some ways to encourage social distancing at the workplace.
Keeping these simple points in mind may help you manage the work and contain the virus at the same time. Take a look at these simple tips and contribute to our collective fight against COVID-19.
Control the crowd effectively
Most offices are facing difficulties because they have not been designed to accommodate people in the way we want right now. Following the protocol means there should be enough distancing and other important measures.
You won’t be able to follow the norm without cutting down on your working staff. The best thing to do here is to set priority. Make a list of persons whose presence in the office is important. Once you reduce the number of such people, social distancing can be maintained very easily.
Now consider those who can work remotely. Prepare a proper set of instructions for that group of people who will work from home.
In case you are unable to contain the required staff in the office while maintaining social distancing, allow them to work in different shifts. Distributing workload into multiple shifts may solve most of your issues. Meetings and other activities that involve gathering can be done online. There are plenty of websites that offer such facilities.
Introduce a proper PPE policy
Personal protection plays a key role in containing the spread of this virus. Choosing the use of the right types of equipment depends a lot on the type of your work and how much human contact is involved there. Workplaces, where more contact is required, should encourage social distancing in the workplace, and increased use of protective clothing along with gloves and masks.
If your employees work in a way where everyone has their place to work, eye covers, gloves, and face masks would be enough. Some modifications need to be done in the workplace for ensuring extra protection. You can install light PVC walls for partition between the working areas of two employees.
Make effective modifications in the workplace
Companies are finding difficulties mostly due to their infrastructure. As it was not designed to cope with a problem like coronavirus, it lacks the qualities that the present time demands. You can encourage social distancing in the workplace by modifying the work environment in the right way.
Just take a look at the way that some city authorities are controlling crowds on a usual day. You can introduce such rules in your office too. Here is how can do it:
- Install flippable stop/go signals in those office areas that are scarce on space. It will help the others know when someone is inside.
- The gathering rooms and kitchens should be organised with the help of proper fencing. Such an arrangement will help you control the crowd effectively.
- Convert every possible narrow lane into one-way lanes so that you can avoid people from coming close.
One thing that you have to keep in mind here is to make the modifications when there is no one in the office. If this building maintenance or workspace renovations are made during working hours, you are increasing the spread of the virus. Make sure to get these works done while maintaining the social distance.
Introduce cleaning and disinfecting protocol at work
Cleanliness and disinfection remain some of the biggest contributors to our fight against coronavirus. In order to keep everything under control, you have to incorporate these measures into your new normal way of work. When we are involved in cleaning, you have to cover all the space associated with the office including external hallways, lobbies, gathering areas, and parking lots.
Just keep in mind that you have to complete this process before anyone returns to their work. Make sure you have sanitised every possible place where employees interact. This process is essential to ensuring proper safety against the virus.
And missing out on even one point may cause serious harm. Make sure you have covered every place. For more convenience, you should make a checklist of items and places that need to be cleaned on a daily basis.
Apart from cleaning everything when the work is shut, encourage your employees to use hand sanitisers as often as possible. You will get through this process only if you are able to get the cleaning supplies on a regular basis. Never start the work until you are done with this process. Apart from this, instruct all your employees to clean their equipment like phones and PCs as often as possible.
Make screening mandatory for everyone entering the office
Make it your priority to save your employees from the infected person. As some of the symptoms of this virus are easily recognisable, you can easily know whether someone has caught this virus. You may need extra help in order to implement temperature screening methods for everyone who enters your office.
Temperature screening is the most basic checkup to reduce the risk. However there are some other measures that may help you a lot. Ask your employees about their travel history and other vital details. You should put a notice on the door listing all the eligibility criteria for entering the office. failing to which, the employees will not be allowed to enter.
Final words
There are several proven methods that we have mentioned so far to encourage social distancing in the workplace. However these methods are effective only when you are able to implement them precisely.
You can ensure the proper implementation of these rules by keeping them above the questions of your employees. Such a priority will help you and your employees to be safe in this pandemic, and help you to encourage social distancing in the workplace.