As the economy slowly returns to normal and businesses have started operating at full capacity again, sanitization and mitigation factors to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have become more important than ever before. Whenever an employee or customer becomes diagnosed with Covid-19, that business often must close for several days, or even weeks, potentially costing thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
Multiple confirmed cases of Covid-19 throughout a community may even prompt sweeping lockdown measures to take effect. Many businesses have fallen victim to these lengthy shutdowns, some unfortunately having to closing their doors permanently. Here are some important tips on how to reopen a business safely as the country eases its restrictions and continues to reopen.
How Does Covid-19 Spread in a Business Setting?
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses learned the importance of regular sanitization the hard way. The unfortunate truth is that Covid-19 is a highly contagious disease, which can spread quickly if proper safety measures are not taken. Covid-19 spreads when an infected individual sneezes or coughs and the virus particle becomes airborne. Some studies have shown that the droplets can spread throughout a business quickly and can remain airborne for as many as three hours. If proper sanitization and mitigation measures are not taken, one infected employee may impact a significant number of coworkers and clients. This is a grave concern for both business owners and employees alike, so it’s important to take proper measures to ensure everyone’s safety.
How Often Should Sanitization Measures Occur?
Many businesses serve hundreds or even thousands of customers every day. For high traffic areas, such as points of sale, tables, chairs, and doorways, daily sanitization is required in order to mitigate the spread of the virus. Office equipment, such as keyboards, telephones and fax machines should also be wiped down and disinfected several times throughout the day in order to keep customers and employees safe.
Consider Alternative Solutions to High-Touch Items
Wiping down and sanitizing high touch surfaces areas is an incredibly important step to maintaining a healthy and safe workplace, however, there are also other measures that one might want to consider. Office restrooms are used universally by all employees on a daily basis, which means every employee will touch the same knobs, stall doors, sinks and soap dispensers every day. To enhance safety measures, one may want to consider the installation of no-touch soap dispensers and hand dryers in company bathrooms. These types of measures will cut down on surface contact and can help keep germs from spreading.
The Importance of Good Respiratory Hygiene
Early in the pandemic, universal masking was commonplace. However, as things get back to normal, face masks have become optional throughout much of the country. It is believed that masks helped to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, and was found to be an effective measure to keep employees safer and healthier. Allow employees to continue to mask up if it makes them feel safer. Keeping air properly ventilated in a busy workplace is also vital to stop the spread of Covid-19. If it is possible, consider keeping windows open in order to help improve ventilation.