3 Tips for Getting Back to Business After Quarantine

5/27/2020 (Permalink)

When you're ready to reopen, we're here to help.

As the local economy prepares to reopen here in Western New York after a long and arduous quarantine, business owners are in uncharted territories. Most are anxious to get back to normal after months of financial hardship and uncertainty, but how do you weigh potential profits against safety? How can you know the safest way to reopen when nothing like this has ever really happened before?

At SERVPRO of West Seneca/Lancaster, we’re here to help you put together a “back to business” plan that’s informed by decades of experience helping business owners of all sizes reopen their doors after all types of catastrophes.

While every business’s situation is unique, there are three things every owner should do: adapt, educate and prevent.

1. Adapt

While the coronavirus pandemic has shown us just how susceptible our world is to disaster, it has also shown us how quickly and effectively people can learn to adapt. A year ago, no one could have foreseen that we’d be social distancing and wearing masks to the grocery store – now, these things have become a matter of course.

Businesses have also learned to adapt. Businesses that are reopening should learn from those that have remained open during the pandemic and consider adopting some of their preventative measures in order to minimize the spread of the virus as people get back to work. These measures include:

• Ongoing physical distancing between anyone inside a business location;
• Switching in-person meetings to videoconferences, or meeting in open, well-ventilated spaces;
• Drastically limited business travel;
• Confidential methods for employees to self-report sickness or potential exposure, as well as confidential ways to inform other employees of their potential risk;
• Updated and more flexible sick leave policies that encourage employees to take time off if they think they may be sick.

Policies like these may be a departure from “business as usual” for many businesses, but they pay dividends in the long run if they help to minimize the spread of COVID-19, which can pass very quickly through an active workplace.

2. Educate

While adapting your policies is a good start, you cannot prevent the spread of disease from the top-down. Employees must also be educated and empowered to minimize their risk from the bottom-up. Business owners should remind their employees of the following (even if it feels a bit redundant):

• Shaking hands can be dangerous – use other forms of greeting;
• Wash and sanitize your hands frequently;
• Avoid touching your face and eyes;
• Shield others from coughs or sneezes;
• Disinfect high-touch surfaces (like doorknobs, tables, desks, keyboards and light switches) multiple times per day;
• As weather allows, open windows or adjust air conditioning for better ventilation;
• Do not share food or drinks;
• Know your sick leave policies and take advantage of them if you feel like you may be sick or recently exposed to the virus.

Employers should also be aware of what they can and can’t ask of employees. While recently revised EEOC guidelines allow employers to check employee temperatures at work if they display symptoms of respiratory illness, the existence of a fever or other symptoms would be subject to confidentiality requirements set out by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Past that, if and when a vaccine for COVID-19 is developed, employers may not require employees to be vaccinated.

3. Prevent

Policies and education create a knowledge base for employers and employees, but minimizing the spread of disease is an everyday activity. Here are just a few things you should consider doing:

• Document all policies related to the pandemic and distribute them to your employees;
• Create an outbreak response plan. Detail how will you react if someone is exposed to the virus, or you suspect that they have been exposed;
• Inventory all high-touch surfaces and create a regular schedule for disinfecting them;
• Consider scheduling regular deep cleans with a professional company like SERVPRO for an extra layer of protection and peace of mind;
• Distribute face masks and gloves to employees with specific instructions on when and how to wear them;
• If possible, stagger employee schedules to reduce the risk of cross-contamination;
• Manage the space in your business to prevent close contact between people (for example, create one-way aisles or mark off six feet of distance on the floor);
• Invest in no-touch sanitizer stations.

If you adapt, educate and prevent, you should be well on your way to reopening as safely as possible. If you’d like further help in creating your back to business plan, just give us a call at SERVPRO of West Seneca/Lancaster at 716-674-1103. We’re here to help!