As a business owner, it’s important to make sure that you reopen your business as safely as possible. The very thought of reopening has had significant mental health issues for many business owners, but by following guidelines these can be mitigated.
Most states have regulations that business owners need to follow in order to reopen safely, and it’s important that you follow all of these guidelines. However, there are other ways that you can help to keep your customers and employees safe. Here are five of the most important tips for business owners:
1. Make Sure That Sick Employees Remain At Home
In addition to ensuring that employees are sent home immediately if they feel ill, it’s a good idea to use thermal cameras to check the temperature of all employees entering the building. This will ensure that anyone who has a fever is not able to enter the building, which is a key symptom of this virus. Furthermore, some people who have an elevated temperature from this disease are not aware that they are experiencing a fever.
2. Limit The Sharing Of Items
Personal items should not be shared, and this includes pens, pencils, electronics, markers, folders, paper files, and other common items in an office environment. While it may not be possible to eliminate the sharing of materials entirely, it’s best to minimize it as much as possible. If items do need to be shared between employees, make sure that they are thoroughly sanitized.
3. Eliminate Gathering Areas And Practice Social Distancing
While the breakroom or water cooler may have been an important part of your office’s culture, these gatherings can potentially facilitate transmission of the virus. Post signs in these areas that make it clear that employees should not gather in these spaces.
Furthermore, it is important to make sure that your employees practice social distancing in the workplace by keeping a six foot distance between one another whenever possible. Also, you should encourage employees to maintain a six foot distance from customers, and install sneeze guards to protect your employees and customers at your business.
4. Ensure That Employees Wear Masks On The Job
Masks play an important role in reducing the transmission of this virus, and it’s important to require your employees to wear masks on the job. Ensure that they do not remove their masks when interacting with one another, and many business owners require their employees to them whenever they are around other employees or customers. Not only do masks protect people who employees come in contact with, but they can also reduce the chances that you or your employees will contract the virus.
5. Sanitize Surfaces Frequently
Sanitizing surfaces around the workplace is essential. Some surfaces can harbor the virus for extended periods of time, and the best way to prevent this form of transmission is sanitizing these surfaces with an effective cleaning product. Always check to make sure that the cleaners you are using have the ability to kill the virus, and the CDC has compiled a list of active ingredients in household cleaners that have sufficient anti-viral properties.