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The COVID-19 pandemic rages on, and you must find ways to stay in business while keeping your customers and employees safe. Are you feeling overwhelmed and short on answers? In this article, we try to help.
How Can You Make Your Business Safe?
In these extraordinary times, businesses must go to extreme lengths to stay afloat. Months of lockdown restrictions have taken a toll on the profitability of many brick-and-mortar businesses worldwide.
But COVID-19 is still out there, even as physical stores begin to gradually open their doors to customers. And making your business safe should still be a priority.
As a business owner, how can you do your part in containing the spread of COVID-19? While researchers are racing against time to develop a vaccine, business establishments can lend a helping hand. They can do this by ensuring the safety of their customers and staff.
Putting an end to the pandemic requires the cooperation of business leaders such as ourselves. So here are a few ways you can make your business a safer place amid this crisis.
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1. Screen Your Staff
COVID-19 is changing rapidly and the symptoms often vary from one strain to another. Symptoms are often latent, which means anyone can be a carrier of the virus without knowing it.
To keep your business safe, you may have to check on the health of your employees from time to time. You might ask them to take their temperature and notify you if they feel sick before they come to work. The slightest fever (anywhere near the 37.8C or 100.04F threshold) is a red flag.
Tell your employees to stay home and contact medical care specialists nearby if they feel unwell. For a complete set of guidelines on preparing a safer workplace, read this document from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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2. Disinfect Your Deliveries
If your establishment receives weekly deliveries from vendors or suppliers, you may have to disinfect your goods before putting them up for display. Some studies suggest that the coronavirus can stay on surfaces for hours or even weeks.
Your deliveries might have gone through several disinfection stages, but you can’t be too careful when it comes to keeping your business safe. Use a disinfection mist with the appropriate strength to decontaminate boxes. You may also need to make sure that storage areas are clean before stocking them with goods.
3. Purify the Atmosphere to Keep Your Business Safe
When it comes to making your business safe for your customers, you will have to make sure that the area where they converge is properly sanitized. This would mean wiping down surfaces your customers come into contact with, such as tables, chairs, door knobs, handles, silverware, among others.
You might also need to use the best air purifier to make the interior safer to breathe in, along with providing your staff and customers with accessible hand sanitizers.
4. Politely Ask Customers to Cooperate
This can be one of the most difficult approaches to keeping your business establishment free of COVID-19. As much as you may want your business to join the fight against the virus, you can’t expect all of your customers to follow the health standards prescribed by your area.
No matter how hard it gets, asking for cooperation shouldn’t lead to escalation. Be patient and keep your cool. Don’t make things worse for yourself and your staff.
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We are living in strange times, but keeping your establishment safe for doing business is still just as important as maintaining your profitability. Stay safe out there!