Top Tips to Stay Safe When Returning to the Office

With lockdown lifted, as well as places and stores re-opening, a lot of people are already returning to the office. Some will still be working from home, of course, but it’s important to ensure that people remain safe when the time comes to go back.

Both those who are now returning to the office, or will be doing so soon, need to stay safe. In this article, we’re taking a good look at how to remain safe and sound in the office, and how to ensure your office space follows the government’s directive.

Maintain Distance

Many places are now opening once more but with a few rules designed to ensure the safety of those who work there, as well as of their visitors’.

Offices need to do the same thing. It’s crucial that measures are put in place to safeguard staff from the virus, and this includes ensuring a good amount of distance between employees. This can be accomplished by reducing the number of employees in the office at any given time – half your staff can work from home while the other half is in the office, keeping distance between one another, for example.

Crowded desks and open plan offices can be a challenge at the moment, so it’s better to consider alternating work days. There should also be plenty of space between desks and employees should be moved away from each other. In addition, you may want to add plexiglass barriers between desks to make sure everyone is safe from respiratory droplets.

Implement a One-Way System

Whenever possible, make sure to create a one-way system so that employees don’t come into contact while in the office. For instance, your staff should be using different routes to enter and exit the premises, which reduces physical contact.

It’s easier to implement this system – and to avoid people coming into contact with one another – if there aren’t too many employees in the office, so consider staggering the return to keep it more manageable.

Avoid Gatherings

By preventing gatherings in the office, your staff will be safer. Whilst meetings could previously be easily held at people’s desks or in conference rooms, now it’s better to hold them through video chat or over the phone, even if your employees are back in the office.

The same goes for lunchtime. It’s normal for people to want to socialise during lunch, but they should still keep their distance and not sit at the same table to eat.

In the same vein, staff shouldn’t share food or drinks either, since there is a risk of infection by doing so. Limiting access to common areas, like kitchens and lounges, can be a good idea too, as it will keep people apart.

Improve Sanitisation

Washing hands often is still incredibly important, so it’s vital that you promote this to your staff. You may also want to add sanitisation stations, even if it’s only a desk with hand gel on it, so that they can disinfect their hands regularly.

It’s crucial that commonly touched surfaces are disinfected often as well, which includes desks, phones, lift buttons and door handles.

Don’t Share with Others

In order to ensure the health and safety of everyone in the office, it’s important that no one uses someone else’s things, be it keyboards or chairs. So, encourage everyone to touch only their stuff but, if there’s a need to share, make sure there are hand sanitisers nearby.

Reduce the Possibility of Exposure

If you have employees who use public transport, you may want to keep them working from home if possible, so that they’re not exposed unnecessarily. In the office, make sure everyone knows what to do if people show signs of being ill.

Even if it’s just a cold, it’s still important to prevent it from spreading, so have sick day policies in place so that your employees can either go home to rest or work from home if it isn’t too serious.

Health and Safety at Biz Hub

How is Biz Hub ensuring your safety at our serviced offices?

We are following the government’s directive and making sure that all our centres remain safe for our clients and our teams.

First of all, you will find hand sanitiser stations fitted at our main entrances and other locations in the centres. We have also ensured that high-risk areas, such as door handles, are deep cleaned regularly, and we’ve also issued PPE and protective screens to our team members.

We have signs in our office spaces that remind people of important personal health messages, like regular handwashing and social distancing. Our staff know how to operate in a safe and compliant way, so you can rest assured that your health is our main concern when you return to our centres.

We have changed the way we receive and record post and deliveries and have new rules regarding our communal areas, which includes limiting the number of people allowed in the kitchens or lifts at one time. Biz Hub also implemented a one-way system to reduce the risk of physical contact.

We provide fully serviced offices, complete with furniture, high-speed broadband and telephone systems, and we can also offer short-term agreements if you require them.

We understand that many people are now returning to the office or will be doing it soon, so we have put measures in place that guarantee our clients’ safety, whether you’re looking for serviced offices in Bolton, serviced offices in Teesside, serviced offices in Burnley or serviced offices in Middlesbrough, just to mention a few of our locations.

This means you don’t have to stress about a thing and can, instead, be confident that we’re following government guidelines and proofing the offices against COVID-19.

Get in touch with us on 0800 012 9088 or email us at info@biz-hub.co.uk to learn more about our health and safety practices or about our serviced offices in the North West, and we’ll be more than happy to answer your queries.