If your company is an essential business that has stayed open throughout the coronavirus pandemic, or a business that is planning to open as social distancing rules are slowly relaxed, it can be difficult to know how to ensure workplace safety.
The following tips show you how you can ensure workplace safety during the pandemic, to protect both customers and staff members.
Limit the number of customers in your store
Due to social distancing rules that requires people to maintain a 2-meter distance from others at all times, it’s likely that you will need to limit the number of customers allowed in your store at any given time. This allows the 2-meter social distancing policy to be respected and can, therefore, reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
If you are an office or warehouse where there is only staff in the building, you may have to limit the number of staff who can come into the office per day to ensure you can social distance effectively.
Provide clear queuing systems
Limiting the number of customers allowed in your store will most likely create queues outside your establishment, especially during peak times. You can greatly benefit from using a queuing system here. This can help to guide people when they are waiting outside your store, as well as create some organisation if there are lots of people waiting. A queuing system also provides another opportunity to keep social distancing measures in place as you can put signs up indicating the distance between each queuing spot.
Sanitise regularly and thoroughly
Hygiene is of the utmost importance when protecting your customers and staff. To ensure workplace safety, your establishment must be regularly cleaned and sanitised so that any traces of germs can be cleaned away.
Make social distancing easy
You can help your customers to maintain their distance from one another using a variety of tools. You could use tape on the floor to indicate 2-meter sections of the shop floor so that people can stay a safe distance from each other. Another way to keep customers safe is to introduce a one-way system in your store. This would help to reduce the contact people may have with each other if they try to walk past each other or try to enter an aisle from different sides.
Use signage
Signage is a great way to remind customers of the need for social distancing and keep everyone safe. Putting signs up around your store will help keep the message of social distancing and safety at the forefront of customers’ minds as they shop. This also helps your staff to not have to have potential conflicts with customers about distancing rules.
Similarly, if your workplace has only staff in it, signage is just as important to remind employees to maintain social distancing and keep washing their hands.
Provide handwashing facilities
Handwashing is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. So you should try to provide handwashing facilities at the entrance and exit of your workplace. The easiest way to do this is with alcohol hand sanitising stations.
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