Preventive measures to be adhered at the workplace against COVID-19

In many unprecedented ways, the COVID-19 pandemic had brought about the whole world to a standstill, changing the day-to-day life of every section of the society, causing panic and nationwide lockdown.

After over six months of strict regulations to curb the spread of the disease, it has become even more pressing to take preventive measures, especially for employers and employees, as we ease into the un-lockdown phase for the economic rebound across the country.

Whether it is government or private, offices and other workplaces are set in relatively intimate spaces, with shared areas like the cafeteria, corridors, elevators, conference rooms, desk spacing, etc., and, so, coronavirus can spread at a much faster rate among office staff, visitors, and their families. Therefore, it is imperative for the office administration to walk the extra mile to limit the spread in an effective manner by taking the following measures: 

1. Mandatory workplace sanitisation

Proper and thorough sanitisation of the office premise before the office staff arrives, and on weekends. The sanitisation of every desk, every corner will ensure a clean, safe and hygienic environment for all the employees, visitors (if any), and also protect their loved ones from any potential risk of transfer of the disease.

2. Vitamins and mineral consumption

Providing Vitamin C, Zinc, Vitamin B, Vitamin D, and other supplements, as suggested by the World Health Organisation, will improve your employee’s immunity.

Make it a practice to have the required supplements available in the office for every employee, and encourage them to consume the same every morning.

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3. Maintain social distancing

Offices used to work at full capacity before the COVID-19 pandemic turned everything upside down. However, times have changed. Now, to ascertain hygienic safety, organisations opened for regular operational activities must ensure proper social distancing by promoting remote working and maintaining minimum strength or adopting different working shifts and hours of entry, exit, and lunchtime for employees to avoid crowds.

4. Hand wash/sanitisation every hour

Placing alcohol-based hand sanitisers in prominent places of the workplace will remind employees to sanitise their hands every now and then. The staff can also choose to wash their hands with soap over hand rubs and ensure that they rub their hands with soap for at least 20 seconds. HR can place COVID-19 preventive measure posters at strategic places that show how to wash and scrub hands.

5. Thermal scanning at least twice a day

All the employees must go through thermal scanning at the entry and exit and in the middle of the day to ensure that anyone who shows any COVID-19 symptoms gets diagnosed and quarantined immediately.

6. Dispose off mask and gloves

All the employees who travel via public transport such as metro, shared rickshaws, or any other public conveyance, must remove and dispose of their facemask and gloves immediately upon reaching office. The office administration then must provide the employees with an extra pair of face masks and gloves at the entry of the office premises for better protection of the rest of the staff. 

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7. Cover face with mask at all times

Taking necessary precautionary measures allows the office administration to be cautious about the spread of the disease at the workplace. However, it does not mean that the disease has been eradicated. So, it is critical for all the employees to wear face protective gear to stop the spread among the community.

8. Address your staff

While the implementation of the above measures will play a crucial role in enabling the office administrators to provide a clean, safe, secure and hygienic environment for all the office staff, it is also imperative that the head of the office/HR team/office administrators must take an additional step to address the employees once or twice a week to talk about any concerns, fears, or revisit the necessary measures to make everyone feel safe.

Apart from all the measures mentioned above, the employers must do everything in their capacity to leave no stone unturned during these uncertain times as this is the time to remind ourselves that we need to look out for each other and together we can emerge stronger.