How to maintain your commercial property through COVID-19

Never before have we seen so much focus on health and safety than we have through this global pandemic.

As well as the tremendous amount of negativity, there are plenty of positives to come out of it too, from a greater sense of community and helping others, to appreciating our key workers and ensuring that we all take better care of our cleanliness and general wellbeing.

This situation with Covid-19 has also forced many employers to really consider the health of their employees too and not just from a physical point of view.

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Mental and emotional health has played a considerable part in this whole situation and ensuring that people are cared for in the right way is imperative to a productive workforce.

If you are an employer and are considering how to best maintain your commercial property throughout this period of the Covid-19 pandemic, take a look at our checklist below:

Maintain the highest levels of cleanliness of workspaces

Study after study has shown us all, that the spread of Covid-19 is via droplets from the nose or mouth of an infected person to a healthy person.

These droplets pass incredibly easily – from cough splutters or a sneeze onto a keyboard which is touched by a healthy person, who then touches their face, it can be a straightforward transition. Hence, there needs to be more focus on cleaning than ever before.

Cleaning with products which kill the virus is the only way to ensure that it will not be spread around with ease in your commercial property. In order to deep clean properly, it is advisable to use the services of a professional organisation such as Southern Cross Cleaning Services who are extremely experienced in this area.

Regular deep cleans, in addition to the standard cleans (which will now be more in-depth than before too), can help to stop the spread amongst your team and will give you peace of mind.

TIP: Read more about How to protect vacant commercial property

Encourage personal safety and sanitation in the offices

All employees should be required to follow certain levels of hygiene maintained throughout the day in order to limit their transmission. Hand sanitiser should be readily available throughout all office spaces.

Hand washing guides should be within all the bathrooms to help promote how best to do this. One-way systems of navigating the public spaces and offices should be in situ so that people don’t bump into each other.

Face masks should be encouraged when moving around (and in some cases when at desks too).

Personal space and social distancing should also be employed by moving desks further apart and disallowing people to sit closely together on breaks and so on.

It needs to be a joint responsibility for everyone within a workplace to be as careful and aware as possible to limit the spread.

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Conduct servicing of equipment regularly

This is particularly important when it comes to ventilation and air conditioning within a commercial property but also applies to things such as cleaning equipment – vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, etc.

The air circulating around your commercial space needs to be free of bacteria and viruses so it must be operating effectively with filters and so on that are in good working order and not letting diseases spread.

Regular maintenance and servicing of these will certainly help.

Consider home working for staff

If you don’t already have your staff working at least partially at home, this might be an efficient and effective way to limit the spread of the virus.

You could operate on a reduced capacity basis so people work rotationally at home, rather than permanently, which would mean that those who don’t want to be in the office or at home all the time can all be treated fairly.

By significantly reducing the amount of people you have on your premises, the property will already stay cleaner and more sanitary and will be better maintained overall.

creative office space ideas

Not only that, but depending on how your staff generally get to the office, you might be further limiting the use of public transport, which again, helps reduce the spread on the whole.

Changes in sick leave policies can also be beneficial.

If staff are more freely able to work from home when they spot the first signs of any illness, it can prevent more people from having to self-isolate or indeed, stop them from getting the virus completely.

Sometimes, people are well enough to do their work but might be exhibiting some signs of illness, so if they work from home, the rest of your workforce will be protected.

This is a challenging time for all, and there is no clear answer as to the exact right way to handle everything. But cleanliness throughout and common sense seem to be the key winners!