Is It Safe To Reopen During The Coronavirus Pandemic?
Photo by: @anastasiiachepinska
In short, yes; but with precaution. The entire world’s framework and the buzzwords we use to navigate it have changed in a matter of months. According to Christopher Hayes, a labor historian at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relationships, what we are experiencing now “is like the 1918 flu and the Great Depression at the same time.”
In this article, we’ll look at five foundations of Virus Control that employers should consider in order to re-open safely and reduce the risk of infection. Follow along for leads on essential cleaning services for your office, and workspace strategies that will renew peace of mind and the overall wellness of your employees.
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What Will Need To Happen?
Before the return to work, every business will need to form their own, unique plan of action with budgeted accommodations for coronavirus cleaning services, PPE, signage, and quality disinfectants.
Standard janitorial services will no longer be capable, certified, or equipped with the types of electrostatic treatments necessary to safeguard facilities and restore peace of mind for the long-term. Instead, commercial janitorial services will replace them to remediate, disinfect, and prevent contamination.
S Grace Facilities offers Electrostatic Disinfection Services Proven to Decontaminate Hazard Zones.
As there is no vaccine and no official treatment for COVID-19; our next options are rapid remediation and routine disinfection services that continue protecting surfaces and ventilation, even after cleaning technicians have left the building.
From the corporate chain to the local taqueria, business owners will need to ensure beyond confidence that their facilities remain infection-free, compliant, routinely disinfected, and prepared for any future outbreaks that may follow.
These Tactics Are Helping Workplaces Stay Safe:
1. Safe Social Distancing with Visual Communications
A report published by Thorax found that 80% of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic or displayed no signs of infection. Retail shops, concert venues, restaurants, and office spaces will be among those utilizing increased signage to create zones for patrons to wait 6 ft apart, or to remind employees of protocols expected to maintain office safety.
Floor pads with such messages as “wash your hands,” and, “stand here,” will become commonplace; CDC recommendations for safeguarding oneself and the workplace from infection will be displayed across every department loud and clear; and whole interior design firms specializing in “separation design” will be recruited to re-haul office spaces and communal areas- making them both safe and enjoyable places for employees to safely return to work.
Tip: Reduce physical encounters by utilizing virtual interfaces. Enable easy staggered scheduling, and replace in-person discussions with virtual ones.
2. Candid Discussions about Contact Tracing
A process of tracking and quarantining infected individuals along with everyone they’ve been near to control disease spread. Most likely the effects of contact tracing won’t become entirely mainstream until people have totally re-congregated in society. Hundreds of thousands of Contact Tracers will be employed by both private and public firms as well as the federal Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC has already deployed Contact Tracers to track and help arrange for the isolation of infected infections, who may work in coordination with Workplace HR departments to ethically pinpoint and communicate with infected individuals, then encourage and organize their self-isolation. For many, contact tracing is controversial, and it’s best for employers to be candid about how it’s being implemented, and what will be asked of employees in case of an outbreak.
Tip: Set up such systems as meeting logs to help quickly and transparently identify contacts.
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3. Efficient Health Screening with myWorkBadge
Collecting real time data to identify and trace infected individuals is met with limitations. There is neither time or money enough to physically test every person who walks through the door, every day. On March 27, Apple and Google announced their partnership in creating Developer Tools to trace individuals who’ve come in contact with a person infected with COVID-19.
Taking it a step further, S Grace Facilities partnered with myWorkBadge, to develop a widely-accessible application for employers to not just contact trace, but to also gather real-time data on employees and facilities all at once.
With myWorkBadge, companies can monitor infrared cameras used to screen facilities for elevated temperatures, monitor the health of employees, ensure their facilities are compliant with CDC guidelines, keep track of inspections, compliance tasks, PPE and disinfection supplies- all in one place.
Tip: Coronavirus disinfection services offered by S Grace Facilities include a Safety Continuity Plan with the optional benefit of implementing myWorkBadge.
4. Opting for Commercial Disinfection Services
COVID-19 is like most respiratory diseases in that it is transmitted through the air, and contaminates any surface that it falls upon. These microbes form a biofilm on surfaces that can continue infecting employees for hours. Your standard facilities management company or janitorial service aren’t technically equipped to combat infectious disease through the air and across surfaces, nor are their technicians trained and certified to the degree necessary.
Instead, building managers and employers will opt for professional disinfecting service providers who take a more complex approach to office disinfection. S Grace Facilities’ Disinfection services include cutting-edge, electrostatic spray techniques in conjunction with EPA and FDA-approved disinfectants. This combination kills known viruses like the novel coronavirus on contact, while continuing to purify the air and prevent decontamination for up to 90 days beyond application.
5. Supplying Employees with CDC-Approved PPE Kits
When stay-at-home orders first went into effect, there was a mad dash to hoard PPE- resulting in shortages nationwide. For every employer to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their employees at the workplace, they’ll need to guarantee every individual is prepared without having to draw from their personal wallets. Many businesses are making giant accommodations in their budgets to allot each individual a weekly supply of refreshed, CDC-approved PPE, which includes masks, gloves, and plentiful hand sanitizer.
Tip: Take company PPE kits a step further by including newsletters outlining any changes to government ordinances for safe social distancing, or helpful tips by the CDC to boost the immune system and prevent infection.
Still Unsure If You Should Reopen? These Resources should help:
Step-by-Step reopening instructions with the CDC Workplaces Decision Tool.
CDC guidelines for Cleaning and Disinfecting workplaces.
Are you ready to reopen?
Get your free download of the Workplace Readiness Checklist
All the essential reopening tasks for Facility Managers and HR Departments to ease the return to work.
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