To help you prepare for a safe return to work, Lib. has gathered the main recommendations for the physical layout of your workspaces in a first article which you can read here.

In this second part, Lib. offers other recommendations and basic rules to put in place to minimize the risk of contamination and the spread of the virus among your employees.

The adaptations to be implemented in the workspaces:

Staying in touch with workers

Equip your existing meeting or training rooms with devices for videoconferencing or create a new office area (think of adequate furniture, audiovisual equipment required depending on quality, acoustics, lighting). Virtual meetings will become very important for the collaboration and cohesion of your remote team.

Reduce densification

You can set up a rotation between your employees (when working at the office and when working from home) to reduce the number of people present at your premises at the same time. For employees present at the office, establish staggered schedules: work / breaks / lunch to limit the number of people in the cafeteria and common areas at a given time.

In addition, you can restrict access to floors or certain areas by implementing an access card system. For stairs and/or elevators (if there are at least two), assign one to descend and the other to ascend.

Install appropriate signage

Using a floor and/or wall signage program, organize movement within your office to encourage employees to always move to the right (clockwise). In addition, install signs at strategic locations (all entrances, common areas, toilets, cafeteria, etc.) indicating the instructions to be followed. If possible, delimit an area 6 feet in diameter for each workstation by installing an indication on the ground.

Avoid the spread

Ideally, you should adapt everything that will be touched by employees (switches, thermostats, door handles, blinds, etc.) using NanoSeptic™ skins or a handless door opening system and contact-less sanitary accessories.

Remove any common items that can be manipulated by more than one person, such as magazines or promotional products.

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

Put disinfecting measures in place

Set up disinfectant stations and disinfectant wipe dispensers at strategic locations on your premises and make sure employees disinfect the places they touch after each use. Also, plan for more frequent and more thorough general housekeeping. To facilitate this large regular cleaning, ask your employees to remove all their personal or unnecessary accessories from their workspace.

Promote regular handwashing and make it mandatory before and after using common areas.

Establish good communication

Your employees face a lot of uncertainty and have to adapt quickly which can cause stress for some people. Establish effective communication with your team such as weekly meetings via videoconference to keep them informed and collect their questions.

Contact Lib. for a turnkey service to adapt your workspaces to COVID-19! You can also consult their free documentation page where you will find guides, posters and checklists.