Fighting the Rona in the Workplace
Spoiler: We’ve got tech that has you covered.
Workplaces on the Naughty List
It’s not just security guards getting hanky-panky with quarantine guests that’s spreading the rona now. According to the Department of Health and Human Services Victoria, the majority of new outbreaks are coming from workplace transmissions. “To address this increase, an inspection and enforcement blitz will be carried out in workplaces across the state,” declares a Chief Health Officer update.
Employers in the Hot Seat
If you need us to spell it out for you, those inspection blitzes put you in the hot seat if your employees aren’t following the rules. This is not a time when you want a bunch of rebels in the house.
As per the government’s guidelines, “At workplaces located within metropolitan Melbourne or Mitchell Shire, you and your staff must wear a face covering at work, and to and from work, unless you have a lawful reason for not doing so.”
A face covering needs to cover your nose and mouth and fit securely. Ski masks are not the goal here. The World Health Organization can help you out if you’re struggling. But as the employer, the task of ensuring your employees are dressed to impress falls to you. And, it’s a responsibility you want to take seriously. Or need we mention the words “enforcement blitz” again?
Beyond the legal and monetary ramifications being a rule-breaker in this case would entail, it’s also just common sense. Why? Business Victoria answers foolish questions on their site, “Face coverings are helpful to stop droplets spreading when someone speaks, laughs, coughs, or sneezes, including someone who has coronavirus (COVID-19) and is contagious, but feels well.” Not to mention mouth-breathers. Yee.
Stopping the Spread in Your Workplace
Sign Language
All right, enough funny business. How do you manage this in your workplace? Or school? Or store? This is an equal opportunity virus after all. Step 1: Put the writing on the wall. [snort]. But really, we’ve got your visual, and you can find more boring helpful signage here.
Monitor Occupancy
As per health guidelines, in an enclosed workspace, you want no more than one person per four square meters of floor space. This isn’t a “see how many people you can squeeze into a concert venue whilst ignoring maximum occupancy signage” scenario. It’s more of a maximum weight rule in a lift. Sort of critical, you know? Life and splat critical.
Wash Those Hands
Government guidelines state that employers need to “Provide and promote hand sanitisers, including at building entrances,” to help fight the spread of COVID-19. Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, said you want to use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol.
Mask Up
It’s all about the communication through the eyeballs. Rawr. Face masks are required.
Guard Personal Space
You’ve heard it a thousand times, you want everyone to hold the 1.5 meters distance rule. You could have all of your employees walk around with 1.5-meter-long sticks, but we’d guess that’d result in more sword duels than work completion.
Activity Monitors
Activity monitors are your alternative. They report on person-to-person proximity, occupancy, whether or not a person is wearing a mask, and how often hand sanitiser stations are being used. Basically, all your COVID-19 prevention gets monitored in one place.
The monitors use stereoscopic vision – binocular lenses – which differentiates them from standard monitors because the binocular bit makes it like a couple of eyeballs looking around. This enables the tech to differentiate between a bare face and one wearing a mask.
We’re not looking to single anyone out for the Cersei walk of shame. It’s not Big Brother level surveillance, or any sort of privacy invasion. When it comes to our activity monitors, people are just dots on a screen. But what you can do with our monitors, ensures you don’t have a Pac-Man eating Pac-Man incident on your hands. (That human visual got weird.)
The monitors report safety metrics, so you can react accordingly to encourage employees to follow safety precautions. It’s all about options in the tool box, and this is one more tool in said box.
Consider our activity monitors to help you manage your space safely. And remember, more can be said with the eyes than an eyeroll. Call us to talk about workplace safety: 1300 672 499. And consider taking your building wellness a step further with our UV-C ceiling lights.
