How to Keep Your Business Clean for Your Staff

As you and your employees begin returning to the office, you may be looking forward to catching up with your work pals, filling each other in on all the hobbies you’ve picked up or how many episodes of that reality show you managed to squeeze in over the last few months. But, it’s very important to remember that we are living in unprecedented times. As we start to go back to work, it’s imperative that we do everything we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses.

We’ve learned one of the most common ways for people to catch viruses is by touching their mouth, eyes or nose after touching a contaminated object like a desk, table, chair or keyboard. Viruses can also be spread through the air if someone who has the virus coughs or exhales and those infected droplets are inhaled by someone else. So, here’s some advice on how to help stop or slow the spread of viruses at your business and how to help keep you and your employees safe and healthy.

1. Maintaining a clean and hygienic work environment is key to stopping or slowing the spread of viruses. Be sure to wipe down surfaces and objects with disinfecting wipes or spray regularly – if anyone comes in contact with a table, desk, telephone, etc. Leave containers of wipes on commonly used tables and in higher traffic areas so people can wipe down the space they came in contact with, too. Work closely with your facilities or janitorial staff to make sure everyone is on the same page about cleaning standards.
2. Encourage extra hand-washing. Reach out to your local public health authority for access and ask if they have posters for you to hang around the office and in the restrooms. Politely remind your employees about washing their hands when communicating during meetings or through email. Placing hand sanitizer dispensers around the office is another smart idea so people can still sanitize their hands in between washing with warm water and soap.
3. Make sure your employees have access to employee face masks at work. As we know, viruses can easily spread through the air, so if your employees are going to be in the office together, it’s best if they are wearing masks.
4. As much as your employees may enjoy chatting in groups and eating lunch together during breaks, remind them avoid sharing food or drinks or eating in common spaces. Ask your employees to eat their lunch at their own desk and to properly dispose of it when they’re done.
5. Remind your employees that if they feel even the least bit sick they should stay home from work. Mild coughs and low-grade fevers are grounds for staying home. Try your best to be patient and flexible in developing courses of action for those people and those who may have to help cover for them.
6. Evaluate whether meetings can be held in a way other than gathering in a conference room or office. It’s possible someone at work has a virus and doesn’t know it, which means anyone going to the meeting may be exposed to it without knowing it either. If the meeting can be video recorded or discussed through online chat, email or phone call, take that into consideration. You can even hold virtual client meetings, and still look professional in your custom branded business clothing. If the meeting is absolutely necessary and needs to be held in person, take a look at the list of who is supposed to go and scale down if possible. Try your best to document what is said and worked out during the meetings to pass on to anyone who couldn’t or didn’t attend. Again, make sure to leave disinfectant and hand sanitizer on any commonly touched surfaces and encourage or require people who attend to wear masks. Arrange seats at least six feet apart and keep doors and windows open so the room is well ventilated.
7. Restrict or limit your employees from traveling unless absolutely necessary. If travel is deemed essential, be sure to research the area where you or your employees are going and asses the current status of COVID-19 or any other virus there beforehand. If you have employees who are at lower risk of getting the virus, send them on the trip instead of someone who is at higher risk. Anyone who travels should self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to the office to assess how they feel. Make sure you are informed of how your employees are feeling before, during and after their trip, and if they are feeling sick or become sick, that you are aware.
8. Provide additional custom uniform shirts for work for your staff, so that they can wash their clothes after each shift. In some cases, they may even opt to change into their branded work polo shirt at the beginning of each shift and back into their street clothes after – so they don’t wear their work clothes into their homes. It may even be a good gesture to provide a custom logo work tote bag so that they have somewhere they can keep their clothes after they change.

As challenging as it may be to keep a bit of a distance between yourself and your coworkers, be more mindful of washing your hands and wear a mask, you’re helping to keep yourself and everyone around you safe and healthy, slow the spread and seriously make a difference. For more information, click here.