With the New Year approaching, businesses are looking towards formulating plans for safe and successful reopenings. Health and safety measures like social distancing signs, dividers, and partitions, sneeze guards, and face masks have become the first steps towards turning that vision of success into a reality.
Six Degrees of Separation
Continuing to maintain the CDC recommended six-foot radius of social distance within your office or retail space is the first step to a safer reopening process. Lining your store’s checkout lines or office’s waiting queue with floor decals dictating six feet helps to ensure customers are adhering to the safety measure while patronizing your business. The floor is the most visible prime real estate for this safety measure and can greatly reduce the possibility of spreading the disease.
Keep Your Guard Up
Protect your employees and customers alike by setting up modular displays to maintain social distancing guidelines while simultaneously blocking the exchange of airborne particles. Depending on the layout of your space, sneeze guards and partitions are an additional protective measure that works to create both peaces of mind and safety for your staff and clientele. These innovative dividers are versatile and can be used anywhere from cashier stations to reception areas and shared workspaces.
A Clean Sweep
When protecting your customers as well as your staff, thorough cleanings can go a long way in keeping everyone safe. Frequent use of bleach and other disinfectants should be a staple in your business’ daily routine, with medical-grade cleaning solutions being used to disinfect high-touch surfaces and shared spaces. A regular handwashing guide for employees and posted in public restrooms is essential, and sanitizing should be promoted to both staff and clientele with the help of sanitizer dispensers and handwashing stations. Signage can be used to remind everyone of proper handwashing protocols and where to find sanitizing stations.
Sign Of The Times
It has become increasingly more difficult to determine whether or not a store is open, and if so at what capacity. For restaurant owners, if your dine-in option is closed be sure to place banners and signs indicating the closure and letting customers know if drive-thru, curbside, and carryout options are still available. Ideally, you’ll want signs with crystal clear communications for your customer’s benefit and as a way to entice them to utilize the other dining options offered by your establishment.
Adding extra safety measures like signs that promote mask mandates to your entrances is a good practice. Always keep extra masks for customers who may have forgotten their own ask in the car. People feel safer when they see signs that reinforce the importance of maintaining social distance.
The Masked Shopper
While face masks have become a part of everyday life for most of us, forgetting one when you walk out the door in the morning still happens. Requiring mask usage inside your business works to keep everyone healthy, but what about customers or employees who might have forgotten their mask at home? Offering free disposable masks at the entrance of your establishment is a simple solution for any forgetfulness. And as your clientele browse, be sure to have appropriate signage reminding everyone of proper mask usage and requirements.
Another unexpected benefit of face masks is the ability to customize them. This can help link your company to safety and work as a marketing tool if you offer custom branded masks to your customers.
Opening Your Office
The work from the home model has been an efficient response to the pandemic, but some businesses need to be back at the office for maximum productivity. Even though some of us are ready to return, we are reluctant, and will only return when we feel safe. Safety measures are a big step towards welcoming back your employees to the office.
Office partitions and dividers are a safe way to distance your employees from each other without making them feel alienated. It’s an ideal solution for conference rooms, cubicles, and tabletops were brainstorming and team-building exercises take place. Any shared workspace can be separated with dividers and partitions that work towards bringing employees together while keeping them further apart.
Shield Yourself
Masks play a vital role in maintaining a quality of health, but there are further steps you can take to stay safe. A face shield can be worn along with a mask for an additional layer of protection. These plastic guards are ideal for cashiers, front desk associates, and any employees who spend a good portion of their workday in close contact with customers.
Consider these safety supplies while planning your reopening, to ensure that your business is doing all it can to protect your employees’ and customers’ health. These tools coupled with our own vigilance are the best weapons against the spread.
At the end of the day, the safety and protection of our communities, employees, and establishments are top priorities.