How to Create a Safe Work Environment During COVID-19

When the pandemic first hit in spring 2020, we collectively went into a panic trying to figure out the best ways to stay healthy and stop the spread of the virus. While things improved for a little while, almost two years later it kind of feels like we are back at square one figuring out how to navigate the newer, much more contagious strains.

And if you’re a business like we are, we are familiar with the stress you are under trying to keep your employees healthy and able to work. At Berry Insurance, we’ve implemented a number of strategies to help keep our employees safe, and so far, we haven’t experienced any outbreaks in the office (knock on wood).

So in this article, we’ll share some of the things you can do to create a safe work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic so you can feel confident you’re doing your best to keep employees safe.

Conduct regular cleanings

You may have already been doing a good job of keeping your office clean before the pandemic started, but these times really call for doubling (or maybe even tripling) down.

If you don’t have a professional cleaning service, now is the time to hire one. But even if you do have one, you and potentially your employees need to step up and regularly clean the office.

It is especially important to focus on high-touch surfaces such as door knobs/handles, light switches, pens, shared computers/copy machines/printers, coffee makers, water coolers, sinks, refrigerators, counters, etc. Basically, anything that employees touch on a regular basis should be cleaned with sanitizing spray or wipes after each use. 

In our office, we set up cleaning logs so people could document that they cleaned a surface after touching it. 

If you want to go the extra mile, we also installed an air filtration system that helps filter out airborne particles and had our cleaning company perform an electrostatic sanitization.

Enforce social distancing

We’ve heard it since the beginning of the pandemic – social distancing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

So you should create an office environment where social distancing is not only possible, but also enforced.

To help maintain compliance, it may help to put up reminder signs, or even block off certain areas of your office that aren’t social-distance-friendly.

For example, when the pandemic first started, we used tape to block off any seats that were not six feet apart so people could not use them.

Encourage or require mask-wearing

In addition to social distancing, wearing masks is another one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses.

When worn correctly, masks can significantly limit the amount of respiratory droplets that enter the air and infect others, so an environment where everyone is wearing masks is much safer than one without masks.

We understand that wearing a mask all day may not be comfortable, so it may make more sense to only require masks in common areas or during meetings while allowing employees to go mask-less in their own space.

Use plastic shield barriers

In areas where people may need to interact, plastic shield barriers can provide protection beyond masks.

These barriers are clear, so you can still easily interact with others through the extra layer of protection.

If your workspaces aren’t socially distant, or you have some sort of area where you service clients, it may be a good idea to add these barriers to protect your employees and clients.

For example, as soon as we began letting visitors back into our office during the pandemic, we made sure to add a barrier to the front reception desk to protect Laura, who greets all of our visitors.

Set up sanitizer stations

To prevent the spread of germs, your employees should be using hand sanitizer regularly. That means you need to have it readily available. 

We suggest equipping each employee’s desk with a bottle of hand sanitizer. You should also distribute them in common areas such as the kitchen, conference rooms, bathrooms, near the water cooler, near shared computers/printers/copiers and more.

Limit in-person guests:

The less people you are exposed to, the less likely you are to become infected with COVID-19, so if it is possible for your company, you should reduce or prohibit outside guests.

Throughout the pandemic, we have been requesting our clients handle all business with us either through email, on the phone, or through Zoom.

We’ve even set up other lines of communication, such as a texting service, an online chat, and an outdoor drop-off mailbox to make it easier for our clients to reach us.

Allow remote work, if possible:

When the pandemic first hit, many companies turned to remote work to stop the spread of the virus. As scientists learned more about virus prevention and developed vaccinations, many people returned to the office.

But as the cases have significantly increased recently, it may be a good idea to re-integrate a remote policy to reduce the spread of the virus.

We understand this isn’t realistic for every company, but if your employees can be remote without significantly impacting your business operations, it may be the right option to keep your employees safe.

When the pandemic hit, we developed a remote policy which limited the number of people in our office at one time. It helped to make sure our office wasn’t overly crowded and allowed for easier social distancing.

Create an atmosphere of communication:

As a business leader, you should make sure you are always communicating with your team to see what their comfort level is with safety protocols in place.

You should also have a procedure in place making sure employees are encouraged to stay home if they aren’t feeling well or if they have a sick family member at home. They should feel confident they will not be reprimanded or have any sort of negative consequences if they need to stay home to keep the rest of the team safe.

Prevent and manage COVID-19 in your workplace

By taking all the steps above, you can be confident your environment is as safe as possible for your employees and you can remain fully-staffed.

But of course, as hard as you try to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes even “as safe as possible” isn’t safe enough.

So what happens if one of your employees does become infected?

We actually wrote about this right after the pandemic began. To learn more, check out the article: COVID-19 and Workers’ Comp: What if Employees Become Infected?

For more information about how we are handling the COVID-19 Pandemic, visit our COVID-19 page.