Reopening after COVID: 5 Steps to Ensure Your Business Reopens in a Safe and Healthy Way

  Over the past year or so, COVID-19 has completely flipped our lives upside down. Almost three million people have already died of the virus, and millions more have survived only to have lasting health consequences and side effects. Meanwhile, countless others have been forced to cope with losing beloved friends and family members, suffered from severe financial hardship, struggled with mental health issues, and had their companies shut up tight – some temporarily and some for good. 

In other words, it’s been rough for us all. But if you still have your health and loved ones, you’re very lucky – even luckier if you’ve managed to maintain a hold over your business and are looking to reopen soon. Although, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed when going about the latter. There are several changes you must make to maintain a non-harmful workplace. Want a little guidance? Here are five steps to ensure your business can reopen in a safer, healthier manner.   

1. Make Sure Your Building’s Ready to Resume Operations

Reopening your company is exciting for everyone involved, but you have to do it in a thoughtful, cautious way. After all, you don’t want to immediately close your doors again. That means your first order of business is to check that your place of work is actually ready for employees and customers to return in the first place. Mechanical, ventilation and safety systems need to be looked at immediately. 

Be on the lookout for any pests that may have moved in after you moved out, mold, broken HVAC systems, and everything else of that nature. Once you’ve ascertained that everything is in working order, open up your business’ windows, turn on your fans, and allow some fresh air in. It’s safer virus-wise and gets rid of all that stale air that’s built up over the time you’ve closed up shop.

2. Identify Possible COVID Risks

If there’s one thing this pandemic has driven home for most of us, it’s that prevention truly is key rather than treatment. And companies, no matter how big or small, should take that to heart just as much as individuals. As such, you should identify possible COVID-19 risks before introducing people back into the workplace. 

This primarily looks like identifying where employees are the most concentrated and might come into close contact with coworkers (ex. break room, meeting areas, busy stairwells, cafeterias, etc.), because you’ll need to develop plans for how to spread out workers and encourage overall social distancing efforts. However, it’s also a good idea to consider:

• Rush hours and times filled with more customers than usual

• Shift changes

• Spaces and times where other coronavirus precautions might not be possible (such as while eating in cafeterias or at desks)

• Employees that are more likely to come into contact with COVID/are more customer-facing

• Workers who are at higher risk for COVID (and complications)

All of these factors should also ultimately be taken into account when developing a safe reopening plan. Working around them or making us creative solutions may not be easy, but they’re integral for a healthy employee roster and place of business.

3. Address Potential Risks and Develop Solutions

Speaking of creating a plan, that is arguably the most significant step you can take to reopen your business safely, ensuring that all major risks are managed, and you can quickly respond and protect workers in the case that someone winds up with a positive test. But – of course – this is easier said than done.

Keeping everyone in your business safe from the virus amid a global pandemic requires strategic planning on several levels. Helping employees simply avoid contracting COVID and reducing transmission should be priority number one, so thorough measures are absolutely necessary. 

Modifying workstations and cubicles, improving fresh airflow and ventilation, reducing the number of people allowed into certain spaces at once, maintaining a more frequent and thorough cleaning schedule, and putting up visual cues about staying six feet apart are just a few ways to go about this, but incredibly powerful, nonetheless. Be proactive, strict, and thoughtful about these measures, and you’ll see low transmission numbers, which is good for all involved. 

4. Talk to Workers About COVID Safety

It might sound kind of obvious, but talking to your workers about COVID safety is critical. It can mean the difference between smooth, (almost) normal daily operations and things being stopped in their tracks once again. It’s your job as an employer to maintain a safe work environment, but your workers have a responsibility here, too, and discussing what that looks like can go a long way. 

Not sure where to start? Encourage them to be forthcoming about potential virus exposure or a positive test. Send them home and have them do a mandatory 14-day quarantine before coming back. And as this is happening, let them know it’s okay. They have bigger concerns than missing work and that It’ll be there when they’re sure they’re healthy. This will relieve any related stress, increase rapport, and ensure they don’t try to come back to work early or feel the need to lie about exposure in the future. Also, refer them to the CDC’s website for expert-approved tips for staying virus-free. 

5. Stay Up-to-Date on Virus Information

Last but certainly not least, you must stay updated about COVID-19 and all the recommendations for how to handle it, both on an individual basis and as a business owner. What people don’t seem to understand about this situation is that it’s normal for our information to change as time goes on. The pandemic is an evolving situation, and this virus is new to us. We are seeing science in action, and that means recommendations and safety measures will change some as we learn more. 

Frequently visit the CDC’s official website to do so rather than relying on second-hand or interpreted information. You’ll only be receiving accurate, current information this way and won’t end up accidentally spreading false information when you make policies or discuss changes made because of the virus to others. And for more information regarding business-specific recommendations for a safe workplace? Click here. 

Interested in our list of items to reopen! Click here.

Author: Sawyer Wood