Re-opening Your Business: How to Keep Your Employees & Customers Healthy

Re-opening Your Business: How to Keep Your Employees & Customers Healthy

Re-opening your business while the Covid-19 pandemic is still in effect can be a challenging task. Below we have provided a list of resources and guidelines to assist you in re-opening your business and keeping your staff and customers healthy.

Business Resources for Safely Re-opening Your Business

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Guidelines for Opening Up America Again
• Coronavirus.gov
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce State-by-State Business Reopening Guidance
• Your state’s official government website
• Your state or governor’s official social media accounts
• County or municipal websites
• OSHA has also issued guidance for returning to work
• American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)

Tips for Protecting the Well-Being of Your Employees and Customers

In the event of re-opening your business, the health and safety of your employees and customers must be a top priority. It is extremely important that all places of business take precautions to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 in the work-place. Here are some tips to help you navigate safely re-opening your business. Ver-A-Fast will help you to Grow your Business!

General Hygiene Practices

• Reinforce the CDC’s guidelines for proper handwashing and coughing/sneezing protocols.
• Utilize the CDC’s recently released recommendations for sanitation for reducing the spread of the virus.

Personal Protective Equipment

• If your business falls under the category which is subject to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s general requirements, be sure to adhere to those guidelines once you reopen.
• Require or encourage your employees, visitors, delivery drivers, and  customers to use face masks on-premises per the CDC’s official recommendation. If possible, provide protective equipment to everyone in your workplace and everyone who enters your workplace.

Office Social Distancing

• Devise a plan on how to practice social distancing within your office. The CDC recommends installing physical barriers, changing workspace layouts to be at least six feet apart, closing communal spaces, and staggering shifts & lunch breaks.
• You may also wish to consider limiting the number of employees in your workplace at one time to assist in your social distancing efforts.

Employee Health Monitoring

• Implement a plan for monitoring your employees’ health, such as taking daily temperature checks and sending employees home with a temperature greater than 100 degrees.
• Develop a plan for handing positive cases of COVID-19 in your workplace once you open. If you need assistance with this, OSHA’s guidelines give specific instructions on how to manage and isolate employees displaying COVID-19 symptoms.