Social distancing is the new norm for returning to shared workspaces. However, the question arises: is it possible? In this article we will explain what you can do to incorporate this norm.
Social distancing, health and safety in the office
You may wonder how you can incorporate social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
Employees will be attentive to social distancing if they know that the company is watching out for their health and safety in the office.
First we must be clear that social distancing between coworkers is an essential measure. This is fundamental, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), to prevent and mitigate infection.
The WHO's recommendation is to maintain at least one meter of distance between people. It also states that this distance should be greater in enclosed spaces. This directly impacts office space and thus performance.
Social distancing is the most effective strategy to reduce COVID-19 infection rates. It consists of avoiding close contact between people.
Facility managers should be aware of occupancy limits. They must also ensure safe air circulation within the facility and sufficeint supplies of disinfectants.
This can be a daunting task if done manually. But the good news is that you can rely on software to control these factors, manage bookings, and ensure better customer service.
Social distancing and the reinvention of the office
Returning to the office is a logistical challenge as the pandemic continues. Facility managers are thus faced with the need to create spaces that provide optimal conditions for maintaining health and safety in the office.
Social distancing implies redesigning environments, timetables, traffic areas, facility ventilation, etc. This must be done in a systematic way so that workers feel safe.
Manual records and controls require a great deal of effort. It is also very easy to make mistakes that can lead to omissions, customer dissatisfaction, and infection.
Fortunately, there are digital tools that can help you designate meeting spaces, monitor office occupancy limits, and coordinate the cleaning of spaces once they have been used.
Following are four ways you can maintain social distancing at work. This gives you options for offering your services while making employees and users feel safe.
4 options for maintaining social distancing in the office
When returning to work it is important to maintain social distancing. There are a number of options to help you control the flow of people to prevent the spread of COVID-19:
Open spaces
Every office is different. Some have open and ventilated spaces. If this is the case in your workplace, you are fortunate: the risk of infection is thus significantly reduced.
By assigning employees open spaces you protect health and safety in the office. You can also place workstations in locations with open windows that facilitate ventilation.
Work shifts
When the size of the office does not allow for a distance of one meter or more between coworkers, you can implement shifts.
In this way, people in the workplace are organized in rotations. This ensures that occupancy is below the established limits at all times, reducing the likelihood of infection.
Workspace management
Workplace management can make use of technology to allocate spaces in the office. In this way you can control access and monitor occupancy limits and person-to-person contact.
Proper workspace management helps attract and retain talent. The addition of social distancing makes for a winning strategy.
These systems can even incorporate alarms to signal when people are getting too close to each other. They also gives notifications when people leave the space to alert the cleaning team.
Redesigning spaces for social distancing
When you choose to redesign a space to maintain social distancing, remember that it involves not only shifting workspaces but also ensuring traffic zones and explanatory signage.
Conclusion
Social distancing in the office is possible. It just requires willingness and discipline. There are four ways you can achieve this: the use of open spaces, work shifts, environment management, and environment redesign.
You can also incorporate technology to encourage social distancing. Visit Parso, where you'll find specialized software solutions for managing corporate spaces.
You may be interested in:
How to keep track of actual office occupancy
Best practices to to reduce transmission in your office
3 reasons why occupancy control software is necessary in the office
