South Africa has been in lockdown since June in a bid to minimise the spread of Covid-19 infections. When the lockdown is lifted, many non-essential businesses will reopen their doors and start trading once again. Business owners need to be vigilant and set up a hygiene response plan in order to keep their employees and customers safe from the virus.
It is vital that the workplace is kept clean and sanitised on a regular basis. A hygiene schedule should form a large portion of the response plan, which outlines cleaning processes and sanitisation rules. A company may opt to hire a professional contract cleaning company, such as IWESCO, to carry out the sanitisation, disinfection and cleaning of their premises.
By now, all South African know how the virus is spread and that hygiene is the key to fighting it, for the time being. Workplace cleanliness is certainly no exception. Employers should create a detailed hygiene response plan to ensure that all employees are aware of the hygiene protocols and disinfection schedule. This strategy will allow businesses to effectively minimise the spread of the virus within their workplace, allowing them to operate at optimal capacity.
Hygiene response plan for the workplace
The following details need to be discussed and implemented through a detailed Covid-19 response plan:
Set up a dedicated task team to oversee the response plan.
Create a regular cleaning schedule that includes daily and weekly tasks.
Establish what cleaning chemicals and methods must be used to disinfect surfaces and regularly-touched objects. IWESCO can provide consultation services in this regard.
Implement sanitisation points at all the entries and exits to the premises.
Make sure that soap and water are available in all the toilets, kitchens and canteens.
Provide alcohol-based hand sanitizers at the entry or reception for customers to use.’
Create signage to remind employees of hygiene protocols and to discourage personal contact.
Work out how to screen, identify, isolate and treat employees that may have the virus.
Rearrange the workplace so that social distancing rules can be followed.
Encourage employees to work from home or set up flexi-hours so that fewer employees are on the premises throughout the day.
Consider a contract cleaning company
Many businesses are diving straight back into full production and operations. This leaves little time to dedicate to the set-up of a task team and a response plan. Many business owners simply do not have time to address all the risks and responses to Covid-19 in the workplace. Adhering to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) is compulsory, so consider hiring a reputable contract cleaning company to take care of your cleaning, sanitisation and disinfection requirements.
Time is money and we can help you save time by ensuring that your response plan is effective and implemented. We have highly-trained staff and specialised cleaning equipment that can effectively eradicate germs, bacteria and viral spores from any type of surface. We offer thermal fogging as a way to regularly disinfect entire rooms and spaces. Employers have a legal obligation to protect the health of their employees and customers, so contact us to set up a consultation or to get a quote.
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IWESCO offers specialised cleaning and waste control services to industrial and commercial customers in South Africa. These services are aimed at minimising our customers’ impact on the environment. Our services also include pest control, garden maintenance, fogging and disinfecting. Our staff are highly trained to offer the most professional services. IWESCO is a Level 2 B-BBEE supplier with ISO 14001 certification for environmental management.
We are a one-stop shop for all your contract cleaning and waste control needs and have a national footprint. Our head office is located in Tshwane but we can provide services to any industrial and commercial client in the major metropolitan areas around South Africa, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Mbombela and more.
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