Eight Tips for Safely Returning to the Worksite or Office During COVID-19

The COVID-19 global pandemic presents unprecedented operational challenges requiring new levels of preparedness and risk management. 

Information around COVID-19 is evolving daily, with confusion often arising from conflicting guidelines and recommendations issued from political leaders and healthcare authorities. 

Tips for Returning to the Worksite or Office

To help clear up the confusion around returning to the worksite or office, Remote Medical International has put together a list of eight tips that your organization can use to bring everyone back safely.

These tips for returning to your place of work are based on best practices and procedures from multiple sources and will help promote the health and safety of your greatest asset, your employees.

Symptoms or Exposure?

• Before leaving home for onsite work, employees should review a COVID-19  Symptoms Checklist. Employees experiencing any of these symptoms should stay at home and contact their manager. Employees with COVID-19 symptoms should also contact their doctor. 

• In addition to symptoms, employees who have had exposure to someone suspected of having COVID-19 should stay at home and contact their manager and inform their doctor about the exposure incident.

• If you have employees in multiple locations or are conducting employee screenings for COVID-19 on a large scale, consider working with a vendor who can provide a screening service or a mobile screening app.

Keep it Sanitary

• Public health authorities recognize hand washing as more effective in controlling the spread of disease than alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Before heading to work areas—all employees and visitors should wash their hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds and dry them thoroughly with single-use towels.  

• Upon arrival—and before leaving their workspace each day—employees and visitors should wipe down all personal workstation surfaces. Your organization should supply disinfecting wipes and alcohol-based hand sanitizers with greater than 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol at each workstation.

Facemasks and Logbooks

• Employees and visitors should wear a face mask in organization facilities at all times when the recommended physical distancing space cannot be maintained (break rooms, elevators, hallways, stairwells, etc.). Your organization can supply disposable face masks or employees, and visitors can bring their own face covering as long as it:
  • Fits snugly but comfortably against the side of the face,
  • Is secured with ties or ear loops,
  • Includes multiple layers of fabric,
  • Allows for breathing without restriction,
  • Can be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to the shape.

• Upon leaving for the day, employees and visitors should record the time of their departure in an employee and visitor logbook using a sterilized pen from a receptacle labeled “sterilized” and place the pen in the receptacle marked “used” when done.
  • There should be a process in place to sterilize pens throughout the day.

Consider Testing

• Do you have employees whose job prevents them from maintaining proper social distancing on your site? Or do you have a population of employees that must remain onsite for critical operations?
  • Consider implementing a COVID-19 Testing program to reduce the risk of job site exposure.

It is the responsibility of all of your employees to rigorously follow the procedures detailed in this list of safety tips.

As people across the globe prepare to return to onsite work during the COVID-19 pandemic, we know it’s your priority to keep your employees and their families safe and healthy. 

If you are interested in learning about how your organization can implement the procedures in this blog post, our medical experts can partner with your organization to keep your employees healthy and productive. 

Interested in Implementing COVID-19 Return-to-Work Procedures for Your Employees?