During the COVID-19 pandemic, making sure that your business has all the appropriate safety measures in place is key to ensuring that the spread of infection amongst your employees and customers is as low as possible. If you run an essential business that is able to stay open throughout lockdowns and serve customers as normal, it is important to be aware of the various measures that you will need to take to keep everyone safe. Here are some of the key things that a business needs to be considered COVID-19 safe.
Updated Risk Assessment
Begin by updating your risk assessment to manage the risk of COVID-19 in your business. This will help you get a clearer idea of what you need to do to work safely and make sure that both groups and individuals are protected. It is important to take note of any employees who may have additional healthcare needs or health conditions that could increase their risk of COVID-19 and complications from the virus, and take steps to ensure that these people are provided with safety measures that are suitable for them and allow them to work as safely as possible.
Social Distancing
It is important to try and keep people at least two metres apart at all times. Wherever this is not possible, staying one metre apart with other measures in place to mitigate risk is also acceptable. For example, if you run a shop, it may not be possible for customers and employees to remain two metres apart at the checkout area; however, they can be one metre apart while using a plexiglass barrier for an additional layer of protection. If your business is open to the public, signs on the floor to mark out social distancing measures and queue control measures may need to be put in place.
Face Coverings
It has been compulsory for customers to wear a face mask in the majority of public businesses since last year. Since September, this has included staff working in shops, restaurants and pubs. Official government guidance outlines that everybody should wear a face covering unless they are exempt due to their age, a respiratory illness, people with certain disabilities, or their job. In most cases, your employees and customers will need to wear a face mask while on your business premises. You can get face masks at medical-supermarket.com.
Working from Home
If your business does not require all or some employees to be on the premises in order to work, remote working should be allowed wherever possible. Working from home is the best way to prevent the spread of the virus in the workplace and should be encouraged. If you have employees that are working from home, it is important to provide the equipment that they need to do their job successfully in a different environment. You should also keep in regular touch with them to discuss their wellbeing and any support that they might need.
Depending on the business that you run, there are various things that you can do to make it more COVID-19-safe. What measures is your business taking?