All over the world, companies are finding ways to bring their employees back to the office safely and in compliance with new occupational health and safety rules. Managers therefore need to rethink space office organization with this new reality in mind. The space will need to be adapted to the way people actually work now. Thus, the redevelopment of office spaces must be done on the whole workplace.

Here are some guidelines for each office area:

Reception area

• Install hand sanitizer dispensers on many surfaces and include directions for use.

• Install Plexiglass or thick plastic screens at each reception desk.

• Have signage on the ground indicating waiting areas. You can also rearrange the seats in the reception area to respect social distancing.

• To prevent the spread of the virus, remove magazines, advertising items, pens and newspapers from the waiting area.

Work stations

• To respect the 6 feet distance per workstation rule, you must establish a floor plan indicating how each workstation can be occupied. This way, you can determine the maximum capacity of your office.

• Install plexiglass screens between each workstation or adjust the height of the existing panels.

• Reorient workstations so that employees do not face each other.

• Remove the chairs and clearly indicate which workstations will remain unoccupied.

• Ideally, assign each office to a specific employee. This will limit the transmission of the virus. If workstations are shared, it is important that each employee has their own keyboard, mouse, mousepad, and personal headset. Everyone must disinfect their workstation before and after use.

• Use IP technology so you don’t share phones.

• Ask your employees to remove all their personal or non-useful belongings to free up the surfaces to facilitate thorough cleaning every night. If necessary, provide them with personal storage space.

Meeting rooms

• Equip your existing meeting rooms for more frequent videoconferences.

• Remove any additional chairs from the meeting room and install signage indicating the maximum number of people allowed in each room.

• You can also reuse these rooms to temporarily store all the chairs and auxiliary furniture that have been removed from the workspaces.

Common areas

• Install disinfecting stations and disinfecting wipe dispensers in strategic locations, as well as signs indicating the instructions to be observed.

• Make hand washing mandatory before and after using common areas.

• Readjust the spacing of furniture in public spaces to respect social distancing.

• Install signage for the maximum capacity of authorized people in these areas.

• Organize clockwise movements using signage on the floor and/or walls.

• Restrict access to floors or office areas using access cards.

• For stairs and elevators (if there are two or more), assign one to go down and the other to go up.

• Use a hand-free door opener or install NanoSeptic™ skins.

• Remove coffee machines, water dispensers, fresh fruit snacks or other such items. Some companies also choose to deny access to refrigerators.

• Modify the ventilation system (fresh air intake, non-recycled + HEPA filters) or add air purifiers in strategic places.

Do you have questions or doubts about the measures to be implemented to adapt your workspaces to the Covid-19? Contact the Lib. experts, they will be happy to guide you through this process.