{"id":3610,"date":"2020-06-09T11:40:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T15:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/protapes.com\/blog\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2021-10-18T12:51:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T16:51:45","slug":"how-do-i-safely-re-open-my-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.protapes.com\/blog\/how-do-i-safely-re-open-my-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do I Safely Re-Open My Business? 10 Guidelines for Re-Opening in a Covid-19 World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As the US economy begins to slowly re-open and businesses begin\nto plan their reopening strategies, it\u2019s imperative that employee safety be at\nthe forefront of any reopening plan. In this blog, we\u2019ll discuss ten guidelines\nfor safely reopening your business in a covid-19 world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Without putting the appropriate employee safety measures in\nplace well in advance of (successfully) reopening your business, you\u2019re\ndestined for failure before you get started. Let\u2019s face it, a big part of a\nsuccessful reopening will be overcoming the psychological effects of this pandemic.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many folks are scared &amp; anxious to head back out into\nthe world after months of being quarantined, and the last thing you need is an\nemployee becoming ill the first week back on the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With that in mind, here are 10 safe-operational \u201cBest Practices\u201d\nyou should consider implementing before you re-open your business:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#1: Assess your Workers\u2019 Individual Risk Factors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Old age, presence of\nchronic medical conditions (including immunocompromising conditions) pregnancy;\nthese are all factors to consider. Implement Controls necessary to address those in higher-risk categories, such as\nmaking arrangements for at-home working accommodations or physical spacing in\norder to isolate your high-risk employees from your lower or less at risk\nemployees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#2: Consider Flexible Worksites and Flexible Hours<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers should explore whether they can establish policies\nand practices, such as flexible worksites (e.g., telecommuting) and flexible\nwork hours (e.g., staggered shifts), to increase the physical distance between\nemployees in order to avoid clusters of employees working in close physical\nproximity, or reducing the overall number of employees in the building at one\ntime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#3: Reconfigure Your Operational Layout<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider reconfiguring your operational layout to create the\nappropriate physical distance between workstations, equipment &amp; assembly\nlines. Where ever possible, eliminate areas that lead to employee clusters for\nprolonged periods of time. Eliminate the use of time-clocks that require\nphysical touching, or excess employee congregating in one central area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"imagegallery\" href=\"https:\/\/www.protapes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Wellness-checks-and-social-distancing-in-practice-at-Pro-Tapes.jpg\" rel=\"imagegallery3610\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.protapes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Wellness-checks-and-social-distancing-in-practice-at-Pro-Tapes.jpg\" alt=\"Wellness checks and social distancing in practice at Pro Tapes\" class=\"wp-image-3615\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#4: Start Each Day with a Wellness Check<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Establish Daily pre-work wellness checks. As each employee\nenters the building at the start of each business day, their temperature should\nbe taken and recorded to insure they are not running a fever. A template form\nshould be created to include a checkbox system indicating if your employees are\nexperiencing any problematic symptoms (Score throat, chills, headache,\nstiffness or soreness, etc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#5: Maintain (And Improve) Good Housekeeping Practices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Maintain regular housekeeping practices, including routine\ncleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, equipment, and other elements of the\nwork environment. When choosing cleaning chemicals, employers should consult\ninformation on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved disinfectant\nlabels with claims against emerging viral pathogens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#6: Promote Personal Hygiene (with PPE)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Create a work environment that promotes personal hygiene\n(and provide the resources if necessary.) For example, provide personal\nprotective equipment such as gloves &amp; masks, no-touch trash cans, hand\nsoap, alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60 percent alcohol,\ndisinfectants, and disposable towels for workers to clean their work surfaces.\nProvide the proper resources for the clean &amp; safe disposal of all used PPE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-heading\">#7: Incorporate Health Training and Education<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Incorporate health training &amp; educational resources as\npart of your on-going training programs. Increasing employee awareness as to\nhow viruses are spread and how to monitor for early warning signs of illness in\nthemselves &amp; fellow employees will help provide for prompt identification\nand early intervention of outbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#8: Encourage Sick Employees to Stay Home<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Revise human resource policies to encourage sick employees\nto stay home when feeling ill. Provide a level of flexibility in the use of\npaid time off, or increase the availability of PTO in the case of illness. Provide\nthe same level of flexibility when it comes to providing paid time off to care\nfor sick family members or address child care concerns in the event of illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#9: Develop &amp; Promote Open Lines of Communication <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Develop &amp; promote open lines of communication across\nyour organization. Work within the privacy protections afforded your employees\nwith HIPAA laws, but openly communicate news of any outbreaks within your\norganization. Develop a system that allows for speedy &amp; accurate\ndissemination of information in the event that one of your employees becomes\ninfected or has been exposed to someone who has been infected. Be able to\nrapidly trace all inter-employee contact within your organization, so that you\ncan quickly notify &amp; isolate any of your employees who may be contagious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">#10: Invest Upfront in Preventive Health Maintenance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>By providing for extra paid time to allow for pre-work\nwellness checks, or allowing for extra paid break time to encourage proper\nhygiene practices like hand washing &amp; proper disposal of used PPE, you\u2019re\nactually saving money by preventing a very costly outbreak. It\u2019s important to\nremember that the cost you\u2019re investing on these up front preventive measures,\nwill pale in comparison to the cost you\u2019ll incur if you experience a wide\nspread breakout. Remember, without our heath we have nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.protapes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/test-logo-placement-2.jpg\" alt=\"Coronavirus and covid-19 business recovery network - resources and information for small businesses\" class=\"wp-image-3587\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Without setting up the appropriate employee safety measures before reopening your business, you\u2019re destined for failure before you get started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":5055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134,167,136],"tags":[183],"coauthors":[182],"class_list":["post-3610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-how-tos","category-news-at-pro-tapes","tag-social-distancing-tapes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Do I Safely Re-Open My Business? 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