Covid-19 has changed many things in one year. From lockdowns working from home to rising panic with infections, people are in constant worry. No doubt in the last year, people have learned to wash their hands often and have also made a habit of wearing face masks.
For many months, workplaces have stayed under lockdown. But, they cannot stay under lockdown forever; this can affect the business and the overall employee stability. To avoid all of these workplaces opening, in many parts of the country, the government has put certain regulations on each individual business. However, things will change in workplaces as well, just like the world in general. Here are some changes that will be seen in the workplaces in this current situation.
Risk types For Contracting Covid-19
When it comes to employees and workers, risk can vary from one category to another. There are high-risk workers, medium-risk workers, and low-risk workers. The offices and workplaces need to take care of the risk category while planning out covid-19 prevention plans.
- Low risk: People who work without coming in contact with people or those who work from home are in a low-risk category.
- Medium risk: People who come into contact with the general public or other employees in some numbers per day.
- High risk: People who have to meet people or people who need to deliver products come in high-risk categories.
How can the workplaces be made safe from COVID-19?
Every day new guidelines are made public to increase awareness. Workplaces are not any different. As many people tend to work on a single floor in an enclosed space, the risk of spreading the virus tends to go up.
Many shared spaces in offices tend to become an easy spot for spreading the virus. It is why more and more regulations are passed so that needed precautionary steps can be taken to avoid any massive spread.
Many rules and regulations need to be followed at workplaces such as:
- The seating places of the workers should be 6 feet away from each other.
- The workers should not stand close to each other and should have a minimum 1-meter distance between them.
- The workplaces should follow strict sanitization guidelines.
- Every employee should be wearing a mask while being at work.
- Every employee should follow a strict regime of sanitizing their hands at regular intervals and every time possible.
- Small enclosed spaces like lifts, cafes, and washrooms should have limited entrants allowed only.
- Every employee or any corporate visitor should undergo a sanitization and temperature check before entering the building.
- Lastly, every employee, management professional, and team should be educated and trained to handle these situations. Daily news and guidelines should be shared, and employees should be aware of the rules and regulations they need to follow.
Workplace guidelines for containment
At times, any workplace may see a sudden spread of covid-19 in the premise. The very thing to do is put the entire office under quarantine. After this, the space should be sanitized and cleaned, and after that, work should be started again.
Some of the rules that the workplaces need to follow in case of any infection in the premise are:
- The office should undergo quarantine.
- The office should be sanitized immediately.
- As per the state government rules, the office should remain closed.
- All the employees should get tested to remove the doubts of being infected.
- The work resumes after some time if only a few of the employees are infected.
- If more employees are infected then, the entire building should be turned into a containment zone.
Risk assessment
Every business, small or big, should assess the risk before opening offices and workplaces. As the world is suddenly seeing a surge of covid-19 cases again, there is a huge risk to the people who go out daily for work.
That is why it is urged by the government and other medical associations that every workplace should have a clear risk assessment report. It will help find the weaker points of a workplace and how they can be curbed to avoid the spread of this virus.
The risk assessment of the workplace will comprise these factors and features:
- The area of the workspace available
- How much can social distancing be maintained among the employees working?
- Proper sanitization amenities and products at the workplace.
- Secluding the high-risk employees and low-risk employees.
- Availability of protective equipment.
- Budget for providing covid-19 protective gear to the workers.
