Last month, we talked about our brand-new range of COVID-19 signs, and how you can use them to keep your employees safe as they get back to work.
Of course, as we all know, workplace safety signs are only one part of the safety equation. Sure, they’re important – however, by no means are they the only thing keeping you safe from the virus!
If you want to create a healthy and safe working environment where every member of staff can get their job done confident in the knowledge that their health is assured, you’ll need to put in place a range of different policies, rules and systems.
What types of changes are we talking about?
Keep a clean and well-disinfected workplace
Cleanliness has always been important in any business establishment – dust, grime and other everyday messes aren’t very pleasant to work with, after all.
However, it’s more important than ever now!
Particular attention should be paid to frequently touched surfaces such as door handles, desks, toilets and cupboard handles. These should be cleaned throughout the day using cleaning solutions while wearing appropriate PPE and safety gear.
Be sure that your cleaning supplies are suitable – be sure to look for cleaning agents with antibacterial and disinfectant properties specifically.
Mandate the use of face masks or face shields
They aren’t the most elegant solution, true. However, the research is unanimous: masks DO slow the spread.
Luckily, most parts of Australia have low-enough numbers that this step shouldn’t be necessary.
That said, if your team interacts with a lot of different customers on a day-to-day basis (or are based in Victoria), it may be wise to put a mask policy in place for your staff at the very least.
In particular, businesses that deal with a lot of different people throughout the day such as retail are especially at risk thanks to the number of people you interact with. If this sounds like your business, a mask policy might be a good idea.
The implementation of a mask or face shield policy can be enhanced by the use of workplace safety signs, reminding employees to cover up.
Promote proper and regular handwashing
It’s a message that’s been drilled into us repeatedly over the last couple of months: wash your hands, and do it religiously!
That means putting in place strict hand-washing rules, requiring all equipment to be wiped down and putting bottles of hand sanitiser everywhere.
- Finished with a piece of equipment? Clean your hands
- Has it been an hour since you last washed your hands? Make your way over to the nearest bottle of hand sanitiser
- Just gone to the toilet? Oh, you bet it’s time to wash up!
What you may not have known is that there’s a very specific way of cleaning your hands – a dab of soap and a quick rinse won’t cut it!
To wash your hands properly takes 20 seconds, minimum. You’ll need to get underneath the nails, between fingers, into the webbing… long story short, it takes a LOT more time.
Make sure your team knows exactly what they have to do to keep their hands clean – our range of COVID-19 signs includes signs going through proper hand washing, complete with easy-to-follow instructions and images.
Finally, if soap and water are not readily available, alcohol with at least 60% Ethyl alcohol and hand sanitisers should be prominently placed around the work area.
Observe physical distancing at work
It doesn’t require much effort, but it can have a dramatic effect on your ability to protect your team!
Of course, maintaining 1.6 metres of distance can be difficult to put into practice – luckily, we’ve got some pointers to help you.
Assigned positions and locations
Normally, your team moves around throughout the day, bouncing from place to place and often coming into close contact with one another.
This may not be able to continue!
One way to keep your family safe is to assign locations for staff members to stand or work with minimum safe distance between them. That can mean spreading out computers or spreading out workstation.
Staggered lunch breaks
Your lunch room is small – it won’t be able to fit everyone in without breaking the 1.6 metre rule.
Luckily, there’s a solution: stagger out lunch breaks.
Instead of everyone having lunch at the same time, create lunch “shifts”, with a small number of people to ensure that social distancing is maintained.
Finally, be sure to wipe down door handles, fridge doors and microwaves between “shifts” just in case.
Use workplace mandatory safety signages
Since everyone is still adjusting with this new normal, it’s important that staff and stakeholders are reminded of all the different safety protocols that need to be done to fight COVID-19, including social distancing.
Luckily, our new range of COVID-19 signs can help.
In addition to signs, our catalogue now includes floor stickers to help you maintain social distancing. These signs can be used to:
- Keep up spacing and social distancing
- Assign work spaces
- Measure out minimum distances
More than just hazchem signs: how Signsmart can help you keep your workplace COVID-safe?
If you need COVID-19 signs, we’re the place to look
You’re back in business… but with a caveat.
While things are starting to settle down, that’s no excuse to slack off. As recent events in Victoria have shown, it’s crucial that you take efforts to keep everyone on-site safe and healthy.
And that’s something our new range of COVID-19 signs can help with.
In addition to workplace safety signs like hazchem signs and emergency information panels, our catalogue now includes a range of COVID-19 signs:
- Social distancing signs
- Reminders to wash and disinfect
- Floor stickers for distancing
- Instructional signs on how to properly wash
And don’t forget that our custom safety signs and dangerous goods signs and labels are still available, allowing you to get the sign you need to keep your workplace COVID-safe!
Our commitment to getting your signs to you as quickly as possible still stands – while the rest of the world may have come to a halt, our quick turnaround is still the same.
We’ll get you your workplace safety signs, whether it’s a custom one, a standard hazchem sign or a brand-new COVID-19 sign… and with minimal waiting time to boot.
Stay safe with Signsmart – give us a call on (03) 9687 3050 or fill in the form to request a quote.
