Even if life starts to go back to normal after COVID-19, building a pandemic safe office is incredibly important for future-proofing. Taking the right safety precautions will help to keep the workplace healthy in general. There are a number of steps to take if you’re in the process of building a COVID-19 safe office as well as things you can do to an existing office.
At Workit Spaces, we’ve just started building a new eCommerce Hub. In this article, we’ll take you through how we’ve designed the space with health and safety in mind. We’ll explain the importance of these choices and how you might be able to implement them into your office or workplace as well.
Thermal body scanner
Before entering the eCommerce Hub, there will be a thermal body scanner to check that your body temperature is in a normal range. For viruses such as COVID-19, a high temperature is one of the most common symptoms. You can find handheld thermal body scanners as well as fixed thermal body scanners that make the process significantly easier.
Touchless hand sanitisation
Something a little bit easier to implement is touchless hand sanitisation. Workit Spaces will be including one of these at every entrance. You can find touchless hand sanitiser dispensers that stand or can be installed onto a wall. Prices range from about $50 to $250 for commercial ones. You can find cheaper options for smaller workplaces.
UV light air conditioning system
We’ll be installing an air conditioning system that uses UV light to kill pathogens. Plus, the air conditioning system will reduce humidity and help prevent germs from multiplying. Though this could be an expensive investment, especially for existing offices, it will help to protect those spending time in your workplace.
Wide corridors
To help with enabling social distancing, the new eCommerce Hub will have corridors that are 2.5m in width. It probably won’t make sense to try and implement this as a change to an existing office. However, if you’re in the process of mapping out your office space, this could be an important consideration to make.
Screen partitions and plant fixtures
Screen partitions and plant fixtures will be used across the hub to help reduce the threat of virus transmission. This is one of the changes that can easily be implemented in existing workplaces. Screen partitions can be removable if you prefer a more open environment when virus threats are low. Plants may be hard to maintain, but can help to give an overall boost in morale as well.
Antimicrobial surfaces and copper handles
In the kitchen, we’ll be using antimicrobial surfaces and copper handles. Copper handles in particular are very costly. However, they’re a naturally microbe-repellent material, meaning the high-traffic kitchen area will be considerably safer. Switching to copper hardware in common areas could be a quick change to help protect those in your office.
Spacious meeting rooms
Last but definitely not least, the meeting rooms in the new eCommerce Hub will be built to be wide and spacious. This means that social distancing will be easy for all users. Unfortunately, this might not be a change that can be implemented easily in existing offices. However, you can still take into consideration what you can do to better facilitate social distancing.
Why do we need a COVID-19 safe office?
Life as we know it will change forever. It’s become clear that health measures need to be taken to reduce risks in the future. Even if there isn’t another global pandemic for some time, minimising the spread of other illnesses such as the common cold will still make a big difference.
Though these measures will likely be expensive, it will be worthwhile in the long run. Safe offices are becoming more attractive to businesses. Working from home might have a permanent place in the corporate world from now on. However, there’s no doubt that there is still a market for a physical workplace, at least for now.
