Businesses have stayed closed for long; the state of the economy isn’t helping either as a result of this coronavirus. We can’t stay like this forever, can we? As the country begins to recover from this pandemic, American businesses and business owners are now looking at post-coronavirus reopening and the possibility of returning some of their workers to work, in the office spaces, of course.
Post-Coronavirus Reopening
It’s a new situation entirely now if you must know, and organizations need to know the old way isn’t going to work anymore. Furniture arrangements in office spaces are one of the things organizations need to look into, as the methods before coronavirus will definitely not work anymore when reopening business.
As employees start heading back into the office environment, employers need to have strategic plans in place to ensure their employees can return safely. Luckily, for any organizations out there, we have some creative and practical ideas on how to change the settings, layout, furniture arrangements, and other essential things in the organizations to conform to the guidelines for curbing the spread of this virus. Read more on preparing your office for post-coronavirus reopening.
Align Office Furniture with Current Health Guidelines During Your Post-Coronavirus Reopening
While organizations are planning to return their employees to the office, they should ensure that the office spaces are ready to receive the employees as well. To do this, organizations should ensure the rearranging of existing office furniture to comply with the guidelines set in place by local and state authorities for the reopening of office spaces.
Funnily, the furniture also needs to adhere to the social distancing rule too. Organizations should ensure the furniture is rearranged to have six-feet apart from each other. Where the rearranging cannot give some feet apart, organizations can remove some furniture to add more space.
Place Capacity Signs During Your Post-Coronavirus Reopening
Placement of capacity signs all around the offices is all about controlling the crowd. While social distancing rule applies to every place now, it can be quite challenging to maintain in an organization with a lot of workers. This is why capacity signs are necessary for every area of the office.
Organizations should go with the recommendation of the state and local authorities as regards the total maximum number of people in an office space – be it conference rooms, training rooms, ancillary spaces, lobby, kitchen, or bathroom.
Convert Lobbies into Check-in Stations
While lobbies may have been the place for employees to gather before, this would be no more acceptable during your post-coronavirus reopening. Instead of using lobbies to congregate, organizations should convert them to check-in stations to screen employees.
Health assessment equipment like the Infrared Fever Scan Systems (IFSS) or any other measures can be placed in the converted check-in station. If employees have a temperature or showing signs of sickness, then they should be asked to go home.
Install Temporary Plexiglass Barriers
Another way of maintaining the social distancing rule in an office space is to place a barrier between office desks. An excellent example of these barriers is the plexiglass barriers. Organizations should consider installing these shields and barriers in the office environment to curb the spread of the virus.
The installation works in a way that these plastic sheets barrier block employees off from each other, and at the same time, they get to see each other and hear each other when speaking.
Distance Indicators
The rule says 6-feet apart, but how do people deduce that the distance between them and the next person is okay for the social distancing rule? A good way to ensure the 6-feet apart rule is to place floor stickers that show how far six feet actually is on the floor. The stickers can be placed 6-feet from where an employee sits, to indicate where the next closest employee can be, especially during conversation.
Post-Coronavirus Reopening
Ensure Proper Ventilation Using Windows
Another way of preventing the coronavirus spread is to ensure proper ventilation by way of windows in offices. It is important to know that central air conditioners and heaters, when on, recirculate the air within an office space, which means viral particles can still be in the air.
On the other hand, opening windows allows air to flow freely in the office, thereby preventing the virus from circulating office spaces. Not all offices allow windows to be opened though, so if yours is like this, ensure employees don’t stand near to the air conditioning exhaust where particles are often logged.
Purchase and Install Hand Sanitizers
Regular washing and sanitizing of the hands happen to be one of the best ways to fight against this coronavirus. Before the reopening of office spaces, organizations should ensure they purchase hand sanitizers that will be installed in some specific places in the organizations.
These sanitizers can be placed in places like entrances, reception areas, conference rooms, break rooms. They can also be added to personal stations of employees, depending on the quantity or how many are available for the organization. It’s all about promoting good hygiene during businesses post-coronavirus reopening.
There you have it! Some creative ideas that will help you greatly in business reopening. Every business owner needs to know that employees’ safety is a priority, and they most likely won’t head back to work if they don’t feel the environment they are coming into is safe enough for them. Some other ideas that can be used are creating video chat rooms, installing UV-C lamps, touchless devices at different points in the organizations, and moving employee’s desks out of a crowded station to communal spaces.
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