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The pandemic has wrought all sorts of change in our day to day lives. Since the outbreak of coronavirus and Covid-19 – and through the spread of different variants around the world – the majority of countries have implemented safety precautions to slow and minimise the impact of the virus on their citizens. Many of us have faced periods of lockdown inside our own homes, cases of social isolation and ongoing social distancing. If you run a business, this has meant learning to work in a different way. The majority of office-based roles have been changed to remote roles, allowing staff to work from home and reducing cases in the workforce. But as more people are getting vaccinated, and as cases are seeing less death and hospitalisations, many employers are starting to consider a return to the office for their staff. Before you do this, though, you’re going to have to check in on your premises and ensure that they’re safe and appropriate for a return to the workplace. Here are some areas you should take into consideration!
Covid Precautions
Covid hasn’t just disappeared. You will still need to take Covid-related precautions when it comes to heading back into the office space. This will keep your staff safe, reduce transmission throughout your employees and can also help your team feel more comfortable with a return to the office. Some ideas include:
- Ensuring desks are two metres apart
- Providing perspex barriers between desk spaces
- Using floor stickers to indicate a one-way system
- Implement rules regarding numbers of people allowed in smaller spaces at any one time, such as lifts, break rooms and office kitchens
- Providing colour coded wrist bands for staff to indicate their comfort with others approaching them (red, amber, green)
General Upkeep
Chances are that your office has been out of us for a while now. You’re going to have to check in and make sure that the space is up to scratch and suitable for a return of your staff. Ensure that all electrics are working and have been checked by professionals as safe for use. CLF Services will be able to help with this. Bring in professional cleaners who will be able to make sure that everything is shiny, clean and fresh. Ask window cleaners or gardeners to visit if necessary for your premises.
Implementing a Phased Return
A return to the office is going to be a big change for staff who have been working from home for almost two years now. A phased return will make this change less of a shock to the system and can help people settle back into this older way of working. Try getting staff back in one day a week, then two, then three, and so on. You might, alternatively, like to offer hybrid working, which allows staff to work from home some of the time and from office some of the time.
This is going to be a considerable change, so take things slow. Hopefully, some of the advice above should help you to get staff back on-site as smoothly and simply as possible!
You may also like: Top Five Reasons to Get Office Cleaning Services
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