Workplace hygiene tips to follow in a post-COVID world

It has been several months since the first nationwide lockdown was initiated earlier this year due to the pandemic. Since then, we’ve undergone a handful of series of lockdowns, and we are finally seeing different cities slowly opening up again. 

This means that many offices and workplaces are functioning again, even if it is in limited capacity. In such instances, following workplace hygiene is of the utmost importance. Maintaining such practices and setting certain guidelines will go a long way in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Whether the initiatives are by the company or the employee, everyone should see how they can contribute to making work a safer place. This can include toilet hygiene in the workplace and even at personal desks, conference rooms, and break rooms. Here are some workplace hygiene tips to get started with.

Basic guidelines 

Ensure you continue to follow all the basics of the guidelines set by the World Health Organization. This includes wearing a mask, frequent handwashing, and practising social distancing. Setting other workplace hygiene instructions is also important.

1. Request all employees to wash their hands when they arrive at work before they can step into the main office space. Since everyone will be entering from an outside environment and from different locations, this will help eliminate the risk of carrying any bacteria or germs and spreading it to other surfaces.

2. Have a regular routine in place for sanitizing bathrooms on a daily basis. Make sure that the bathrooms are all stocked with proper bathroom cleaning equipment and products.

3. Heavy emphasis should also be placed on cleaning and disinfecting door handles, light switches, and other common surfaces. This includes both the bathroom and the main office.

4. Place tissue boxes at every desk. This way, people will avoid coughing or sneezing into their hands and will use tissues instead which can be disposed of immediately. 

5. Closely monitor the news and act according to updates in their city or town. Initiate remote work once again if the numbers begin to go up or if you are located within a hotspot. 

6. Allow employees the option to continue to work remotely if they wish to, and make this mandatory if they reside in hotspots or have a sick household member. It would also be best to restrict those who do not own a vehicle and require public transport to commute to work. 

Customizing your workplace

Apart from following the basic guidelines, offices should also look at reassessing their office spaces and reorienting them to maximise safety as much as possible. Doing so can also increase trust between the employer and company, and will help encourage personal hygiene in the workplace.

1. Set up sanitizing stations around the office for employees to use. At the same time, encourage employees to assess the need for sanitizing over handwashing. For example, if they have sneezed or coughed, they should wash their hands for effective hygiene instead.

2. Change the seating arrangement so that employees are not seated next to one another anymore. Instead, have a few desks remain unoccupied, which will help to keep a distance of a few feet between people.

3. A major workplace hygiene tip that will go a long way is investing in relevant technology in the bathrooms, like automatic soap dispensers and sensor taps. With handwashing becoming more prevalent, these facilities will be used more frequently. Installing these will minimize touch and the spread of germs this way.

4. Toilet hygiene in the workplace can also be maximised with sensor flushes as flushing systems are also frequently touched with different sets of unwashed hands regularly.

5. Consider having different teams come into the office on alternate days to prevent too many employees being present all at once. 

Personal hygiene in the workplace

We are all accustomed to being mindful of office and workplace bathroom etiquettes. But with the prevailing conditions, you may have to consider the spaces you are in and are interacting with daily, and not just the people around you.

1. Continue to avoid touching any parts of your face, including your mouth, nose, and eyes. Try to wear a mask through the workday.

2. Carry sanitizing wipes with you to wipe down your work area, which includes your desktop, keyboard, desk, and more.

3. You can also ensure workplace hygiene by utilizing drawers for all your desk items, including stationery, planners, sanitizers, tissues, and more. This will ensure that no one else touches or uses your personal belongings.

4. Practising toilet hygiene in the workplace should be looked after more than ever, and ensuring you take the personal steps to do so is also important. Make sure you avoid crowding the bathroom. Maintain a good distance from other users as well.

5. Draw boundaries with people by politely stating that you would prefer some distance or are uncomfortable shaking hands or sharing lunches if such instances occur.

6. Avoid ordering lunches and try to bring packed meals from home instead. 

Following these workplace hygiene tips will help both employees and employers return to the office like normal and create safe working environments. If you are looking to remodel the workplace bathrooms to make them safer to use, check out Jaquar’s range of premium sanitaryware and sensor technology.