KEEP YOUR DISTANCE - 9 SIMPLE TIPS
Hygiene concept: This keeps the risk of infection in your office as low as possible.
Security in the office? This is no longer just an issue for security experts. If you want to make it easier for your employees to return to the office, you need a sophisticated hygiene concept. We tell you how you can implement such a concept with nine tips and what you have to consider. Stay safe!
Tip 1: Regular tests and / or temperature measurements
If you want to make your workplace safe, you cannot avoid regular tests. So, offer your employees free on-site testing, or encourage everyone to get tested at a testing site beforehand. To increase safety a step further, you can use an automated temperature measuring station to test your employees and / or guests for their body temperature. This seems to make more sense especially in high-traffic buildings.
Important: Whatever hygiene measures you implement, communication with your employees is very important. Be considerate of fears, worries, or personal situations and explain the current regulations in such a way that everyone can understand them.
Tip 2: Keep an eye on capacity utilization
How many employees are in the office at the same time? The smaller and more crowded the workplace, the higher the risk of infection. That's why you should definitely keep an eye on your office utilization, and if possible, not let all employees work at the same time. Staggered working hours and breaks can prevent a high workload and are therefore a good idea, especially in COVID times.
What else can you do? Draw up an allocation plan. Employees can register there if they want to use certain rooms or places. If you want to keep your distance, with DeskNow it's particularly easy for you to do. With our intuitive dashboard, you can keep an eye on workstations and rooms at all times and manage them digitally and flexibility, i.e. lock them, mark them for cleaning, etc.
Tip 3: Room ventilation
By now, everyone knows how important good ventilation is in closed rooms. No matter how warm or cold it is outside, you should definitely open the windows regularly. They are ventilation systems to exchange the air in the room.
Tip 4: Keep your distance
Structure the walking routes in your office with signs or arrows on the floor. This way you can be sure that employees and visitors keep the recommended minimum distance of 1.5 meters as often as possible. It is particularly important to minimize "oncoming traffic." For example, employees can always move clockwise through the rooms.
Also, keep desks at a distance. Move desks apart if this is possible in your rooms. Floor markings around the individual workplaces can be useful - so employees know at all times where the safe distance applies. Otherwise, partitions made of plexiglass can help and provide additional separation.
Important: Do not make walkways and distance markings too complicated. Even visitors should have no problem understanding the instructions immediately.
Tip 5: Sufficient disinfection options
Thorough hand washing is probably one of those measures that would make sense even without COVID.
Set up disinfection options at the entrance, in common rooms and throughout the work area in larger offices. You can also place small disinfectant dispensers on employees' desks. Tis is particularly useful for shared workstations.
Tip 6: Mouth and nose protection
If the distance cannot be maintained, a mouth and nose cover should be mandatory. Which masks are suitable for this? You can get an overview of the different masks and their effectiveness at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, for example. Basically, FFP2 masks offer the best protection.
Important: Be sure to observe the quality class of your mask and the current occupational health and safety regulations, which stipulate the maximum wearing time of the mask in one go.
Tip 7: Appoint a hygiene offer
It can be useful to appoint an employee who regularly checks the hygiene concept and compliance with the measures. It is important that this control does not happen from above. It is much more about creating a contact person for all questions relating to the hygiene concept in the office.
Tip 8: Take walks together
The joint lunch break with colleagues can often be canceled during COVID times. So, does every contact have to be avoided? Of course not! A good alternative to having lunch together is going for a walk during the lunch break. This stimulates digestion after a meal and offers a safe opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues while exercising and in the fresh air. This is how you strengthen cohesion and a sense of community in the office even in times of "social distancing!"
Tip 9: Corona catering
The catering also has to be adjusted frequently due to COVID. Above all, classic canteen food or buffet catering is difficult to implement give the many hygiene standards. A suitable alternative? For example, mobile canteens that save space at the same time. Those who want to maintain hygiene and distance with DeskNow can, for example, integrate their canteen completely electronically into the extra services. In this way, all food can be prepared in compliance with strict hygiene guidelines and the orders are delivered directly to your office or meeting room with the appropriate advance notice.
A safety hygiene concept in the office is not rocket science. It’s all about distance, sufficient ventilations, and smart management of office occupancy. Our nine tips give you a good overview and enable quick and easy implementation for every office. This is the only way to ensure that your employees and visitors feel comfortable and safe in the office.