COVID-19 Coronavirus Prevention Steps for Your Workplace

COVID-19 Workplace Prevention

Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is becoming the topic of most conversations around the world. Coronavirus prevention is of utmost importance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, has published a guide for keeping your workplace safe.

Here are a few tips the CDC and Synergistx suggest for COVID-19 prevention in the workplace.

Wash and sanitize hands regularly.

Set up reminders around the office to urge employees to wash (for at least 20 seconds with soap and water) and sanitize hands frequently. Also, encourage all people to avoid touching their faces. It may be a good idea to remind employees via email or instant messaging every so often to take a break to wash hands. If soap and water is unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 70% alcohol. Any less will not be effective.

Clean and sanitize surfaces.

Frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, desks, keyboards, cellular phones, tables, and handrails should be wiped down and disinfected regularly. If at all possible, avoid touching these surfaces with your hands. For example, when opening bathroom doors, use a paper towel; or when pushing an elevator button, use your knuckle instead of your finger tip and sanitize hands immediately after.

If possible, refrain from handshaking and hold meetings in well ventilated locations.

At every opportunity, use non-contact methods of greeting one another. Also, try to keep a safe distance from people. The CDC recommends staying six-feet away from individuals as a tip for decreasing the likelihood of catching the virus. When holding a meeting, if video-conference is not an option, use well-ventilated meeting rooms, open windows, and adjust air conditioning.

Encourage employees feeling sick or with a sick family member to stay home.

When symptoms of any illness arise, encourage employees to stay home and rest in order to recover. It is not worth the risk of infecting others by coming into the office with any illness. It is not worth worsening your illness and exposing others, no matter how productive you think you can be. If sick, remain home unless seeking medical attention.

Maintain or adopt healthy eating habits and drink plenty of water.

The human body is equipped to fight viruses and, when needed, heal itself when given the right resources. Eating healthy is a preventative measure everyone can take. For example, it is a good idea to avoid sugars and choose natural, non-processed food in order to stay as healthy as possible. Also, remember to drink plenty of water regularly throughout the day.

Make Use of Technology

Set up Zoom (or another video-conference system) and ensure VPN is functioning properly on all employee computers. In addition, make sure proper login protocols are in place for security purposes.

In the event of the need to transfer work to home in the future, take the time now to make sure all remote access systems are working properly. It may be a good idea to craft an email explaining how to access the remote network and encourage employees to back up all work to the network drive. Conduct test runs to make certain everything is working properly so productivity continues with minimal interruption if employees need to transfer their work to home.