Most small businesses are led by entrepreneurs who are used to setting goals and resolving plenty of complications. Yet, pandemics like COVID-19 can confuse even the savviest entrepreneurs. Most of them are curious and worried about reopening their businesses safely. Indeed, you need to focus on a dozen safety precautions. Even when the local government advises businesses to reopen, details on how and when can be unclear. The business owner has to keep their work environment safe for both customers and employees. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have come up with a useful decision tree. This tree will aid you in reopening your business safely.
Social Distancing Guidelines
First things first, you need to be aware of the social distancing guidelines. According to the guideline, you need to maintain a distance of six feet from everyone. When you are in a crowded environment, this rule has to be strictly followed. Also, the amount of face-to-face contact with “others” should be reduced as much as possible. This is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the disease.
In the foreseeable future, social distancing is going to become the norm. As business owners, you need to support your employees and customers in the following ways:
- Ensure that all the workplaces, desks, and displays are positioned far apart.
- Limit the total number of workers in a given space.
- Limit the total number of seats in common hangout spots.
- Break rooms have to be reorganized. This way, the number of people gathering together can be cut down.
- Customary ways of greeting need to be avoided. This includes hugs, kisses, and handshakes.
Wash Your Hands
COVID-19 spreads when an infected person sneezes, touches, or talks. The virus spreads in the air and can stay alive on surfaces for a very long time. This is why you need to wash your hands more often than before. Reopening your business safely will be incomplete without this step. Social distancing can reduce the rate at which the disease spreads. But washing hands will kill the virus. This makes “washing hands” a much more effective strategy.
Since hand washing is not as practical as it sounds, you need to use hand sanitizers. The moment you consider reopening your business safely, you need to invest in a good number of hand sanitizers. Ensure that hand sanitizers are kept in every nuke and corner of the work environment.
