It Is Not Time To Relax

It’s fall/winter, and the living is easy. Well, easier.

Many U.S. communities and states are opening up completely in the wake of majority vaccinations from the coronavirus. In response, people are flocking to events and facilities that were closed during the last 18 months.

Many people are no longer wearing masks because they are told they don’t have to as long as they are vaccinated. Social distancing is becoming a thing of the past. For the first time in 18 months, people can once again complain about crowds and traffic.

But the pandemic is not over. 

While the United States has done a fair job of vaccinating its population in order to return to some form of normalcy, many parts of the world are still suffering, and there is no assurance that a new strain of the coronavirus won’t pop up, either out of a localized mutation or the return of international travel. 

Let’s be clear about this: We are not in the clear, not by a long shot. It is not yet 2019 again, and it may never be again.

What you did and what you still need to do

It is likely that you made significant changes in your cleaning and disinfecting procedures over the past 18 months. You may be reopening your workplace or office to employees and staff once again, and you have made every precaution to ensure that those workers are safer now in your office than they were before the pandemic began. Perhaps you reorganized the work space so that there is greater distance between employees. Perhaps you have added signs, or created a “station’’ for personal hygiene supplies like hand sanitizer or desk cleansers. Perhaps you have closed your kitchen or staff lunch room, or made significant changes to the equipment and space available to staffers in that area. 

But it is imperative that you have a standard operating procedure in place that maintains that same level of cleanliness and attention to detail. Someone has to take the lead on the need to maintain a new standard and that someone is likely you.

Keep in mind that your employees and staff have perhaps relaxed their own personal standards. They may not be washing their hands as often as they once did. They may be unmasked in all of their daily routine once again. Because they are vaccinated, they feel immune to the dangers that still lurk.

You may want to impose specific standards of behavior in the office to promote a continued concentration of cleanliness and disinfectants. Or, you may want to create a work environment without the additional stress of attention to hygienic detail. Either way, it is up to you to let your staff know what is expected of them in regard to continued health and safety, and what they can expect of the company in terms of maintaining a high level of concentration on the current coronavirus situation.

In order to promote the idea of health, safety and cleanliness, consider regular visits from the professionals at Excel Cleaning Services. We will provide an environment which all staff members will want to help maintain.

The future of your office

You may have the friendliest staff imaginable, but there are going to be different opinions among individual staff members regarding cleanliness and the need for health safety in close work environments.

Conduct a wellness check with each employee, asking them what they want to see in the office in order to feel safe and to be productive. Ask them what they want to see from their co-workers as well. 

This could get complicated. Some workers are going to want to maintain social distance, and some may even want to maintain masking. You won’t know until you ask. Making demands, one way or the other, is only going to set off those employees who don’t agree with your decision. 

By working with Excel Cleaning Services, you can explain to your employees the investment you have made in the cleanliness of your office and your continued efforts to keep everyone safe from any possible infection. 

And let’s work together so that your staff can concentrate on business issues rather than personal safety issues.