The first case of COVID-19 occurred in China in late 2019. Covid-19 can be transmitted by droplets people expel or from physical contact with something a person with the disease touched. By March 2020, billions of people were on lockdown in over 100 countries.
Despite the shutdown of non-essential businesses and stay at home orders from governments around the globe, there were over 8.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide by June 2020. Business owners can increase safety for employees and customers by implementing these measures.
1. Use PPE
Use personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus. Wholesale cloth face masks can reduce the spread of the virus by preventing droplets from saliva or other bodily fluids from being transferred to other people. Face masks also protect the person wearing the mask from direct contact with germs. Layered cloth masks should be worn in public places and cover the wearer’s mouth and nose. Cloth masks are reusable masks that can be washed.
Gloves can also reduce transmission. Wearing gloves will prevent direct contact with a person with the virus, which reduces the chance of infection.
2. Enable Remote Work
Supply staff with NewEgg laptops to enable them to work from home some or all of the time. NewEgg offers new and refurbished laptops for great prices. Remote work promotes social distancing and reduces the risk of exposure. You can use a conferencing app to enable staff to conduct conference calls via their laptops. Conferencing enables face to face communication while maintaining social distancing standards.
An omni channel contact center will enable customers to contact staff with a phone call, email, text message, social media message, or fax. Call center software allows employees to access the omnichannel system remotely, which means they can safely and effectively respond to consumer queries without direct physical contact, which protects clients and employees from exposure. Omnichannel software uses artificial intelligence to effectively transfer and direct communications to available employees.
3. Promote Worksite Safety
Whether your staff works onsite or remotely, it is good to institute safety protocols to protect staff and customers. Employees should be encouraged to wash their hands regularly. You can initiate extra work breaks or allow staff to step away from their duties when necessary to wash their hands.
Encourage employees to modify their environment to maintain social distancing. You can do this by placing a table in front of checkout counters to increase the amount of space between customers and staff. You can also use directional arrows to prevent customers from walking past each other in the store.
4. Monitor Staff Health
Communicate with staff daily and ask about their health. Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, coughing, sneezing, and headaches. Create a symptom checklist and send staff home or to a testing clinic if they have symptoms. You can also identify at-risk locations and ask staff if they have been to any of those sites within the past two weeks. Monitoring staff will reduce the chance of transmission to other staff or customers if an employee tests positive.
It’s also important to talk to your staff about their mental health. You may have employees who are concerned about at-risk family members or who have been unable to visit family since the lockdown began. They may be distracted at work if they are under stress. Providing emotional support can enable staff to perform their duties effectively and safely. Mental health support can also help employees cope with the effects of the pandemic.
5. Make Facility Modifications
You may be able to make several workplace modifications to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. Install doors with sensors to prevent employees and customers from needing to touch the doors when entering and exiting. You can also have touchless toilets and faucets installed to reduce physical contact with these items in the bathroom.
Plastic screens can be installed around workstations and checkouts to prevent people from transmitting the virus via droplets. You may also opt to add plastic screens above cubicles or move workstations to reduce contact.
Another way to improve onsite safety is to improve your ventilation system. Recycled air can pose a higher risk of transmission if someone in the building has the virus. Avoid recycling air to prevent transmission to your employees and customers.
