Coronavirus in the workplace – and how to reduce your risk

Situations like the spread of Coronavirus / COVID-19 give us a difficult decision to make. We don’t want to spread panic or worry, but it is surely better to spread information than germs. We’ve put together this advice with Coronavirus in mind, but it also provides useful guidelines for reducing the spread of colds, coughs, flu and other viruses.

Prevention is better than cure

Viruses generally transmit either directly from one person to another, or by making contact with a surface that an infected person has touched. For example:

• “Coughs and sneezes spread diseases”
• Close contact, such as shaking hands
• Touching something carrying the infection – door handles, lift buttons etc. – and then not washing your hands

At a minimum you should:

1. Wash your hands – with soap – regularly
2. If you can’t wash your hands, use an alcohol-based sanitiser
3. Try to touch your face less often
4. Cough or sneeze into a tissue, which you then safely throw away

There’s more information on the NHS and about travel restrictions / advice on this government website.

Workplace cleanliness

We’ll be contacting each of our clients to check they are satisfied with the level of cleaning, discuss short- and long-term adjustments, and to offer any specific advice in areas of concern.

You should:

1. Make sure staff are aware of the risks, and what action they should take to prevent the spread of infection
2. Help staff who show flu-like symptoms, or who have recently travelled to the at-risk areas
3. Ensure every employee – and on-site customers / suppliers – have easy and free access to handwashing facilities
4. Make hand sanitisers and tissues freely available, and encourage their use (don’t forget to ensure easy disposal too)
5. Reconsider any non-essential travel plans
6. Keep people updated! Share information and advice, and let people know your plans

The Alliance way

Unsurprisingly we already take cleaning seriously, but we’re doubling-down on this. All of our cleaning staff are being thoroughly briefed on any extra steps they need to take, both when performing their day-to-day duties and to assist with any specific requirements our clients have.

We have also been testing some new equipment and cleaning methods which will improve our cleaning processes even further. Keep an eye on this news page for more details in the coming days.

In the meantime, please contact us (whether you are a client or not) if you would like to talk more about your commercial cleaning needs in relation to COVID-19 and other viruses.