How to Stay Safe From Coronavirus When Returning to Work

The coronavirus pandemic has truly become a global concern. It has infected millions, killed thousands and the infection rate still hasn’t flattened. However, many of us are going back to work.

Let’s share some tips on how to stay safe from the virus when you finally decide to return to your on-site job again.

Maintaining Social Distancing in Common Areas

Since the coronavirus is spread by contact with the respiratory droplets of an infected person, one of the best ways to prevent infection is to maintain social distancing. Here are some ways you’ll find yourself challenged. We have tips on how to stay safe.

Crowded Elevators
Avoid getting on crowded elevators. The ideal distance between each person is at least or 6 feet. The size of the elevator will determine how many can fit per ride, but when in doubt, it’s best to keep the number of passengers down to just one or two people at a time.

If possible, wear gloves before touching the elevator buttons that have undoubtedly been exposed to a lot of handling already. Or just remember to disinfect your hands after touching them with bare fingers before you use this hand to touch any part of your face.

Sharing Public Facilities
Another major concern is public facilities like lavatories, recreational rooms, pantries and other common areas. It’s the company’s responsibility to limit the people using them and disinfect each area daily, but it is also up to you, as an employee, to distance yourself from others and avoid touching things that are most frequently handled by people. These include coffee maker handles, vending machine buttons, light switches and more.

Rearranging the Open Office Plans
It’s typical for companies to make the most out of the space they have resulting in crowded office spaces with back-to-back workstations. This must be changed, though, allowing employees to still maintain the required minimum distance of 6 feet, even at their desks.

Avoid sharing your office gear with others as well, such as your phone, headset, keyboard, even your pens.

Health Insurance Coverage

There are a lot of measures that we can practice in order to keep ourselves from getting infected. However, since there’s no telling who among us are sick due to asymptomatic patients, there’s still a high probability of getting infected even with the strictest discipline and countermeasures.

There are a lot of insurance companies that are providing free virus detection and antibody testing, as well as those that are waiving co-pay fees for COVID-19 related treatment, but we still highly recommend checking with your health insurance provider to know your COVID-19 related coverage before getting back to work to know what you can expect if you do get sick.

If you don’t have it, buy health insurance today. You may qualify for really low rates.

How to Clean the Office

Finally, you must ensure that your office is a safe and healthy environment to work in through proper disinfection. All surfaces must be wiped down regularly throughout the day.

How to Clean the Personal Workspace

You can actively contribute to this by ensuring that your personal workspace is clean. Wear a face mask at work to avoid spreading your respiratory droplets on your work surface. Always wash your hands before handling any of your office gear. And don’t forget to disinfect your gear with disinfecting wipes at the beginning and end of each workday.

Cleaning Public Areas

And while, as mentioned, it is your company’s responsibility to disinfect common areas, you can still practice wearing personal protective equipment, and keeping your hands clean before and after you’ve been to these locations in order to minimize cross-contamination as much as possible. Don’t forget to follow any safety protocol being enforced as well, such as temperature checks, staggered breaks, and rotating shifts. Furthermore, stay at home if you’re not feeling well, or at the very least, stay away from your office’s public areas. Meanwhile, if you’re a business owner, it is vital to keep your indoor air quality high and create a special maintenance unit equipped with personal protective gear and proper disinfecting tools. There are professional cleaning companies that can disinfect your office spaces as well. And of course, don’t forget to focus on frequently touched items and surfaces.

To Sum Up

We understand how it can be quite daunting to return to work during a pandemic. However, there are methods that you can do in order to protect yourself.

Learn more about your COVID-19-related health insurance coverage, so you know that you have something that you and your family can rely on should you get sick.

Maintain social distancing protocols and keep yourself at least 6 feet away from other people. This is especially important when in cramped spaces like elevators and lavatories, and common areas of your office.

Keep your personal workspace clean and distanced from other cubicles. And lastly, don’t forget to constantly disinfect your hands especially before touching any part of your face. Stay healthy!