With the coronavirus sweeping across the globe, safeguarding your business when the country is on lockdown should be your first priority. If you’re in an essential industry, such as healthcare, food service, law enforcement, public works, or other essential functions, you need to protect and keep your staff safe. Take a look at how you can keep your staff safe during these unprecedented times below.
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Provide them with personal protective equipment
If your staff doesn’t have the ability to work remotely, then you need to ensure they’re protected from COVID-19. To do so, invest in personal protective equipment (PPE) for your staff. PPE is excellent at preventing the spread of viruses, germs, and other bacteria because it reduces the chance of spreading and being exposed to these germs. There are numerous types of PPE you can distribute to your staff, such as:
Disposable gloves
- Disposable face masks
- Protective eyewear
- Gowns, aprons, head coverings, and shoe covers
It’s crucial that your employees know how to handle PPE to ensure germs aren’t spread. Educate them on how to properly dispose of their PPE, such as placing it in special laundry containers or waste containers, and not touching their mouth, nose, eyes, or skin, especially without washing their hands first.
Along with PPE, educate them on workplace hygiene, such as regularly washing their hands, sneezing and coughing into their elbows and not their hands, and socially distancing themselves from coworkers and customers if possible. Place hand sanitizer stations throughout the workplace, and place sneeze guards at cash registers to prevent customers from spreading germs to your staff.
Offer them health benefits
Along with PPE, offer your staff health benefits, such as vision, dental, and health insurance, to ensure they’re covered in the event they fall sick with coronavirus or any other illness. Health benefits are essential if you’re an employer. Employees who have access to health insurance will have greater peace of mind knowing they won’t have to spend thousands of dollars if an unexpected medical emergency arises.
Not only do health benefits benefit your employees, but they benefit your business, too. Health benefits will bring more productive, healthier employees who value the company they work for. In fact, it was found that providing health insurance leads to a 60 percent increase in productivity.
Happier employees who are healthy are more likely to remain at their job, which will raise your retention rate, and will work harder and more efficiently. Offering health benefits will also save your business money on taxes and can give you and your employees greater access to more doctors.
Give them unlimited sick leave
One benefit you should offer during these difficult times is unlimited sick leave for employees who contract coronavirus. This is a trend many corporations are following, such as Walmart and Amazon, and gives their essential staff peace of mind knowing that if they get sick, they won’t have to fear getting in trouble for going to the doctor and taking the recommended 14 days off from work.
Similar to health insurance, sick leave results in happier, healthier employees who value your company and feel valued themselves. After all, your employees are your greatest asset. Without them, you’d have no one to help your company grow, which is why protecting them and keeping them safe is a must.
Keep the workplace clean
Keeping the workplace clean is another way you can protect and keep your staff. To keep all areas of your building, whether you run a small business or large corporation, clean, invest in the help of a cleaning service. A cleaning service will be able to clean and sanitize all the nooks and crannies of the office to ensure germs aren’t spread. During these times, you may need to have the cleaning crew visit more often, especially if you’re conducting a lot of business.
Along with hiring a cleaning crew, educate your staff on hygiene best practices, place hand sanitizing stations throughout the office, and provide disinfecting wipes to each team. These preventative measures will make a world of difference.
Wrapping up
During these uncertain times, it’s important you show your employees just how much you care and value them. Your actions today will set the tone for how you’re viewed. Not taking care of your staff will show a lot about your company’s values, which can end up hurting your business in the long run. With these tips on how to protect and keep your staff safe, you’ll ensure everyone is happy.
