What Are The COVID Safety Requirements That Offices Have To Follow? Find Out Here
Physical distancing has become an everyday norm. It refers to distancing yourself from others so as to curb the spread of Covid. Covid spreads quickly from person to person when an infected person coughs, or sneezes and someone else comes into contact with surfaces that are contaminated. This is why sanitizing and masking up are so important. Keep reading for the COVID safety requirements your office should be following.
Stick to Physical Distancing Guidelines and Sanitise
Depending on where you stay and what you do you might have different requirements around physical distancing, but sanitising and handwashing rules remain the same – sanitize or wash hands regularly. Be sure to check your exact requirements on the government website.
Number Of People Allowed in An Enclosed Area Must Be Limited
Legislation requires that you limit the number of outside people you allow into your open office space, such as waiting rooms, and any other common areas. If you are unsure as to how many people you are allowed in your allotted space you can calculate it. Search online for how to do this. This will give you an idea of the maximum number of people allowed in an area at a time. Round down, rather than up.
If the nature of your work dictates that you cannot comply with these requirements it is important that you implement other measures.
Number Of Staff Allowed In A Workplace Must Be Limited
When possible, employees should be allowed to work from home. This means that non-essential work should be postponed and that the number of tasks required by each person to be completed each day, especially if it is required that they are completed in the workplace, must be reduced.
One of the best ways to go about this is to split upshifts or to stagger them reducing the number of staff in the workplace at any given time. Schedules that ensure there is not an overlap in staff coming in and staff leaving should be implemented to avoid bottle-ups of people in the workplace. Different entrance and exit points should also be implemented to limit, if not completely, avoid interaction.
Stay 1.5 Meters Apart
You cannot have someone policing every individual all of the time. Signage in the form of floor and wall marking should be up that directs workers to maintain a 1.5-meter radius from others. This also means you will likely have to make some changes to the layout of your workspace. When adjusting the layout of the office, spread the furniture out to increase and further encourage social distancing. Also, consider restricting workers and visitors to specific pathways and areas.
This also makes it easier to clean and disinfect certain areas in the case of an outbreak. There are several different companies that offer Covid-19 cleaning services in Sydney that you can choose from. However, unfortunately, there are still fraudulent companies out there. Be sure to enlist the services of one that uses approved cleaning chemicals.
Protocol for Visitors, Including Deliveries and Contractors
Limit Non-Essential Contact
Physical interactions between staff are limited. Therefore, it makes sense that physical interaction between staff and clients, and any other people should be limited. One of the best COVID safety requirements to go about this is with contactless deliveries. This limits contact between staff and any other non-essential people at the workplace.
Protocols For When Face-To-Face Contact Does Happen
When face-to-face interaction must happen, it is important that the workplace has floor markings that clearly define a 1.5-meter distance between people who might need to queue. It is also important that physical barriers are integrated into the workspace, for example, Perspex barriers. Face-to-face interaction needs to be assessed. It is important that you come up with ways to limit this sort of interaction as much as possible. Design mobile apps, and encourage phone calls and emails as your primary modes of communication.
Protocol for Face-to-Face Deliveries and Contractors
It is important that when receiving deliveries the amount of staff who attend to this is kept to a minimum. It is very difficult to know who follows protocol and who doesn’t, especially when they have an entirely different workspace. Contractors and delivery companies should be given clear strict instructions on how to enter the workspace and where to meet relevant people. They must also be given strict instructions on how to behave on the premises and what the workplace protocols are that they will need to adhere to. Most importantly, ask your service providers if they are able to use electronic paperwork and signatures to minimize as much interaction as possible.
You will need to supply handwashing facilities as well as sanitiser for everyone.
Covid will likely be around for quite some time to come. This is why it is important that you check out the government’s website for links to enforceable protocol and COVID safety requirements. Continue to maintain a safe physical distance from others, at least 1.5 meters, and be sure to mask up and sanitize when you need to. Stay safe.
