As many employees begin to return to the office, your team may be wondering how COVID-safe your workplace is. Whereas prior to lockdown some employees may have tutted about that milk bottle that’s been left to curdle in the fridge, or those used mugs that have been left on the side, nowadays, all of us are much more aware about general office cleanliness and the office bacteria we’re being exposed to.
Creating a COVID safe workplace may seem daunting, and whilst we live in a world with COVID, no office is ever going to be 100% COVID-secure. However, there are certain things that you can do with your office furniture to make your workplace as COVID-safe as you possibly can.
How to clean an office professionally
As you and your team begin to return to the office, you may already have a professional office cleaner or team of cleaners. If so, this is a great first step towards keeping your office bacteria at bay.
Your cleaners will sanitise all of the obvious areas, such as desks and tables. Encourage your employees to keep their desks clear of clutter, perhaps with the help of office storage. Go for something classic like the Gulf Under Desk 3 Drawer Pedestal, or something funky and bright like the Motley Brightly Coloured Pedestals. This will allow for easy cleaning of desk surfaces.
However, in terms of keeping your office as clean as possible, you will need to think about less obvious places and the bacteria they may harbour. For example, high-touch areas such as light switches, door handles and kitchen appliances should be cleaned regularly. You may wish to employ a specialist cleaner for these aspects, as well as encouraging employees to sanitise these areas after use.
Furthermore, you may be wondering how to clean an office chair made of fabric. Mesh and fabric chairs can be cleaned firstly with a vacuum cleaner to remove any debris, and then with a damp cloth and cleaner. Washing up liquid is ideal for mesh chairs, and specialist upholstery cleaners can be used for fabric chairs, with a quick internet search showing you how to clean an office chair. Remember to sanitise plastic arms on office chairs regularly, too.
Sanitiser stations to help with office bacteria
One way that you can help your employees to keep touch points as clean as possible is to install free standing touch-free sanitiser stations. Site these in entrances and exits to all rooms, including offices, meeting rooms, toilets, kitchens and staff areas. These will encourage your employees to keep their hands sanitised, which in turn will keep all areas that are touched as clean as possible.
Using virus protection screens for employee protection
Of course, creating a COVID-safe workplace takes more than just cleaning. Using virus protection screens is a good way of keeping your team safe, especially in high traffic areas and within roles such as on reception desks. There are plenty of desktop reception screens and desk screens available, which will help to keep your team safe as they work with your clients and each other.
Floor standing screens can also be used in kitchens, canteens and between desks. Some floor standing screens are even mounted on casters so that they can be mobile screens; this is perfect if you need to move teams of people to certain areas in order to comply with social distancing.
COVID-safe workplace furniture solutions from ADD office
ADD office is a nationwide supplier of premium quality office furniture. This means that if your team are going back to work after COVID, we can help you create an office space to be as COVID-safe as possible. Through the use of virus protection screens and sanitiser stations, as well as solutions for social distancing, we can help you to get your team back into the office in line with government COVID-safe guidelines.
Contact our helpful team to see how we can help. We’ll tailor our advice to the needs of you, your team and your office space.
