As feaured in a NCBI journal, studties have shown that workplace productivity and employee safety are directly linked. External factors, like a worldwide pandemic, can have a direct negative impact on productivity levels. During this time, it is more important than ever to show your company that you are taking the necessary steps to ensure safety in the workplace.

“As an overall result of a healthier work environment, businesses have seen, according to the MBIE report, more productivity and reduced sick pay costs”. When we feel safe in the workplace productivity is higher.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened safety concerns in the workplace and grappling with an ever-changing regulatory environment. Here are some ways you can keep your workplace safe, combat negative factors and increased employee productivity:

Educate on COVID-19

Many people fear what they do not understand. By educating staff on how COVID-19 spreads and how to protect themselves and others, you can help your office understand how to avoid putting themselves in a situation of potential exposure or how to best keep themselves safe in the workplace.

Pre-Work Screening Questionnaire

Enforcing a mandatory pre-work COVID-19 screening questionnaire will give employees peace of mind as well as an opportunity to assess their overall health in an attempt to avoid unintentional exposure to illness. This pre-work screening should ask questions like if an employee has knowingly been exposed to COVID-19 or if they feel ill, and then recommend a course of action such as staying home from work if exposed or contacting a medical professional.

Require Everyone to Wash their Hands

Hand-washing has been the most important piece of advice from healthcare experts to combat coronavirus. On a microscopic level, coronavirus is encased in an outer layer of fat and the easiest way to render the virus ineffective is by washing your hands with soap. “Soap can break that fat apart and make the virus unable to infect you”, however you must wash your hands for a minimum of 20 seconds to ensure the soap is given the opportunity to break down the germ.

Provide Personal Protection Equipment

As an employer it is your responsibility to provide employees with protective face coverings. Face coverings, like cotton masks, 3-ply procedure masks and KN95 masks, have been proved to be an important step in protecting those who are healthy and preventing those infected with COVID-19 from infecting others. Studies have shown that masks significantly reduce the rate of exposure and infection of coronavirus. In addition to reducing the spread of COVID-19, face masks provide a sense of security and safety.

Adhere to Social Distancing Guidelines

Maintaining social distancing guidelines set by the CDC is the easiest way to keep employees healthy. Creating a 6ft distance between all employees greatly reduces the spread of respiratory illnesses, like coronavirus, that are transmitted by droplets from speaking, coughing, laughing or sneezing. Avoiding large groups and crowded places is also recommended, however, in some workplace environments this is not a possibility.

Provide a Physical Barrier

For workplace settings that require employees to interact with customers or other employees, the CDC recommends installing a physical barrier to reduce the transmission of respiratory illness through direct person-to-person contact. Providing a physical barrier, like SeparationScreen, allows employees whose jobs required direct interaction with others to feel safe and protected. This physical barrier is a great addition to keeping employees, whose jobs do not allow them to maint social distancing guidelines, healthy.

Encourage everyone to practice safe behavior while adhering to the recommended safety steps should result in a happier, more productive team!