This year has been anything but ordinary and we are all experiencing the limitations it is posing to our lives. With the pandemic still ongoing, it is becoming clear that the return to offices will be anything but normal for those who do end up heading back into work.
Even though it won’t be the same, there are some ways that you can help cope with it by helping keep yourself and others safe when you do find yourself walking through those once familiar doors again – social distancing.
Those two words have dominated the news headlines more than any combination of words in recent memory so you are going to be hearing it a lot when you head back to work. Finding ways to make sure that the office is safe means making sure that social distancing is in full-effect so people can still get their job done, but not at the risk of infecting anyone else. Here are some ways that social distancing can be properly done in the office.
1. Partitions and Dividers
The safest way to prevent any spread of disease or bacteria in the workplace is by setting up partitions or dividers. Clear plastic dividers can help workers see and interact with one another even with an obstacle in the way. Using office dividers helps prevent particles from spit or sneezing get anywhere, and when combined with masks, makes the office much safer and gives everyone better peace of mind. These dividers can be set up at desks, between rows, and just about anywhere that needs to be protected because of high traffic use.
2. Footpath Arrows
Another simple solution is to make designated walkways with footpath arrows to indicated directions. You have undoubtedly seen this at the grocery store while shopping and all it does is help people know that they must follow the specific path so they can avoid coming into contact with too many people. These arrows will help direct people and reduce the number of high traffic areas to keep the workplace safe. The best part is that the arrows are extremely cheap so they can be added to any office quite easily. It also helps to create a map to help workers know which paths go where.
3. Cubicles Instead of Open Plan
Open plan office designs are more than likely a thing of the past for the time being. They looked modern, cool, and sleek but they simply don’t work how they should during a time like this which makes it all the more important to create a workplace that is safe. Just like dividers or partitions, cubicles provide a good sense of security from any spreading of bacteria or contact. The walls can be high to prevent this as well. Cubicles might not be as new and cool or modern as an open plan design, but in this case, it works a lot better.
4. Space Out Desks
Even if you can’t afford to use cubicles, it can be valuable to space out desks anyway. This lies in the ability to use the space accordingly, so it only works if you don’t have too many employees returning and there is plenty of floor space to spread desks out. Not only does this let people talk to and see each other, but it is also useful for them in the sense that it creates natural laneways of separation that can help workers avoid coming into close proximity as often as possible.
5. Reducing Capacity Limits
Wherever there are problems with too many people crowding around in certain areas, you need to find ways to reduce them. High capacity areas in an office are usually entrances, elevators, stairwells, and kitchen/common areas. If you can effectively manage how many people are going in and out of these spaces, you can reduce the potential spread of bacteria greatly. The use of partitions and footpath arrows is a good start, but you also need to have a schedule for when people can grab their stuff from the kitchen. This can be difficult, but it might be best to tell people to bring food from home and store anything that can be stored out of a fridge near their personal space so they aren’t moving around too much within the office.
6. Return Essential Staff
Back to the subject of returning to work, it should be advised that only essential staff comes back first. You never know how much can spread from whom so if people really need to come back into the office for various operations, it should be people who are needed in the office. Managers, bosses, etc. along with the usual cleaning staff are who should return first to keep the space as low populated as possible. Another good idea is to make sure that when others do start returning, that there is a flexible schedule with on-off weeks or days to help the office remain sparsely populated so that the social distancing protocols are still in effect.
7. Cleaning Stations
The last one is less about social distancing and more of a way to make sure that everyone has the right supplies to keep themselves and their coworkers safe. A cleaning station is important and it should have enough hand sanitizer, hand soap, disinfectant wipes, extra gloves, and even extra masks just in case. It should be advised that people use their own sanitizing products that they brought from home to make sure that germs aren’t spreading from surface to surface, but it can help out to have some around the office just in case anyone needs them.
The words social distancing didn’t mean much just one year ago, but it seems to be all we have talked about in 2020, among a few other things. There is no doubt that social distancing is important for keeping bacteria from spreading so it is important. Using these techniques, any office can be a safe place for work to resume and prevent anyone from getting sick.
