Returning to work in a COVID-19 world

Now that South Africa's initial lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has started to be relaxed, some companies may allow their staff to return to work and resume their operations. However, strict rules have been into place to prevent the transmission of this incredibly contagious disease. Over and above these rules, there are certain protocols and best practices that you can follow to ensure the health and safety of your staff. With this disease set to be a threat for a long time to come, a new way of thinking is required when it comes to offices and factories.

Restructuring of office space

First things first - your workplace needs to be set up to allow for social distancing. Employees need to be spaced at least 1.5 metres away from each other, and if this is not possible, solid barriers or partitions must be placed between desks or workstations. This may mean thinking carefully about which employees are required to be at the office and who can continue to work from home. 

Space must also be made in your office for hand sanitiser stations, which are required to be at the entrance to your premises. There also needs to be a sanitiser station near the desk of any staff member who liaises with members of the public as part of his or her job.

Health checks and face masks

All employees must be screened when they arrive at work each morning. A designated staff member must carry out this function, and check each employee's temperature and make sure that they are not displaying any COVID-19 symptoms. If there is even the slightest doubt about an employee's health, that employee should be sent home to self-isolate and undergo testing for COVID-19. 

As the employer, you are required to give each employee two cloth masks for use at work. Also, you need to ensure that the office is well ventilated.

It is important to note that additional, more stringent requirements apply to companies who employ more than 500 people.

Rotation of staff

The number of workers who are at an office or factory must be kept to a minimum during this time. Depending on the nature of what they do, companies have some flexibility to be creative here. Staff rotation, shift systems and staggered working hours are all possible ways to maximise productivity while minimising the number of people on company premises at any given time. One must, however, bear in mind the current curfew that has been imposed between 8pm and 5am.

Ensure that common sense prevails

Simple common sense needs to prevail in the way that your business is run during this time. For example, if your smoking area is small, then employees' smoke breaks need to be staggered. If there is a communal area where staff members eat their lunch, the same rules need to apply. Companies need to ensure regular deep cleaning of their offices, and any fingerprint-access systems should be disabled if possible.

In a nutshell, the arrangements that a business is required to make for staff at the office include:

• Adequate sanitation, including the provision of free hand sanitiser and face masks.
• Social distancing between workstations.
• Daily screening of staff arriving at work. 
• Protocols for immediate isolation of anyone who starts to show any COVID-19 symptom.

The team from 3Cube Property Solutions continues to work remotely during this time, and are on hand to answer all queries about how COVID-19 relates to your company and your workplace. Contact us for more information.