Even though restrictions on businesses are being loosened, it doesn’t mean that it’s time to give up the fight against COVID-19 entirely. In fact, your business needs to work hard to keep your employees and customers safe as the world continues to face an uncertain future. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help fight the spread of COVID-19, as challenging as it may be. Here are four ways to keep flattening the curve as your business re-opens.
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Sanitize Often
Sanitizing frequently-touched surfaces is no longer something that can hide on a weekly or monthly checklist. Instead, proper sanitization should be completed on an hourly basis or even more frequently if conditions warrant. Using the proper chemicals for this job is also crucial to ensure you don’t lull yourself into a false sense of security. By frequently sanitizing surfaces, you can normalize health standards that will keep your workplace and employees safe from the pandemic.
Choose Contractors Carefully
It is vital that you choose your contractors carefully, as maintenance can have immediate impact on employee health. Now that your business is open again, you’ll likely have many maintenance tasks that need to be taken care of by outside contractors. Now, more than ever, it’s important to choose those contractors carefully to ensure they abide by CDC recommendations. Everyone from burner services to window washing should have a plan in place that they can present to you upon request so that you know they take your health and safety seriously.
Enhance Signage
In order for customers and employees to follow the plan you have in place, you have to communicate that plan to them. One of the easiest ways to do this is to implement enhanced signage around your facility. This will help provide reminders to everyone to stay properly distanced and will give guidelines as to how to conduct tricky tasks that may require more personal contact. Sending your plan to those who need to know prior to re-opening is another important part of this process.
No Shared Items
In most businesses, there are many shared items that get passed from person to person. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, this needs to change. Something as simple as an ink pen on your sign-in counter can harbor the virus and cause multiple people to fall ill. Therefore, rather than having these items out in the open, it’s important to have them in a secure location where they can be sanitized after every use.
Don’t Panic
As you put new plans into place to protect yourself and others, the task can seem overwhelming. Just keep in mind that everyone is facing similar challenges, as everyone is facing uncharted territory. With that in mind, try to be patient with yourself as you figure out what does and doesn’t work so that you don’t add unnecessary stress to an already stressful situation. By following these tips, you and your business can help to flatten the curve as your business re-opens.
Author’s Bio:
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan
