Return to Work Safely During COVID-19: Top Tips

As some states allow businesses to return to work in an office setting, it’s vital to exercise caution to prevent COVID-19 spread. To help, we’ve compiled some tips for returning to work in the office safely.

Top COVID Prevention Tips to Return to Work Safely

To prevent COVID-19 spread, close-quarter interaction must be limited. You can see why this is important, and ways you can do this, by viewing the official CDC guidelines. Bearing these in mind, here are some essential tips that your office should follow.

Maintain social distancing

Every employee’s desk must be at least six feet apart to ensure everyone is at a safe distance from the other person. If this isn’t possible, then form an A/B schedule for office work. Schedule half of your employees to work on location for part of the week, and the remaining staff for the rest of the week. This way, employees would be sitting every other desk and would be safely distanced to prevent any viral spread. If you need help managing this process, we recommend exploring Salesforce’s work.com.

Determine when to wear a mask

It is best to always wear a mask when surrounded by other people. Urge mask use especially in close quarters and with customers. While it’s not necessary to wear a mask at an individual desk, staff should wear masks in common areas. These include bathrooms, break rooms, and when coming or leaving the office. Other more laborious jobs will have other mask policies in place. The rule of thumb is to wear a mask when not distanced from individuals and/or with unfamiliar people.

Provide sanitation stations/masks

If you are physically reopening the doors of your business, make your employees feel safe and clean inside the office. Providing sanitation stations or personal sanitation bottles allows employees to feel comfortable moving about the office, while preventing germs. Your office should also provide masks to all employees that are coming back into the office. In the event someone forgets a mask, extra masks provide both reassurance and an added layer of safety.

Rethink a new office layout

By rethinking a new office layout, this could allow more team members safely into the office at one time. Many offices are built with desks right next to each other. Redesigning the office layout with this protocol will keep employees safe and make them feel comfortable in the office.

Buy safety signs to put around the office

These signs will help enforce the safety guidelines that the CDC recommends when returning to the workplace. It will also help employees remember to wash their hands often and social distance. The signs are cheap and could be a big asset to companies who are thinking about reopening physically. 

Remote Work is Still the Safest Option if Possible

Since work from home is still an option for many companies, this remains the safest, most efficient work choice. This is particularly true for higher risk people who should not risk interaction with other employees in the office.

Luckily, Accounting Seed makes the work from home decision easy! Our cloud technology enables companies to pick up the data they left off with at the office right in the comfort of their home. Secure cloud connections and Salesforce-based platform tools make remote work easy and efficient. If you are looking for a new accounting solution or even want to see a demo of Accounting Seed contact us today!