On May 10th, Boris Johnson suggested the country is now approaching towards level three on the alert system, and stated the following: “We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work.” This is a major change to the current lockdown situation and will result in many employees across the country returning to work. However, there must be guidelines in place for a safe warehouse upon return.
So, following the advice and to ensure your safe return to work, here are our top social distancing tips to help encourage a Covid-19 free workplace.
Set clear self-isolation expectations
For employers, being clear on what actions you expect employees to take when exposed to Covid-19 is crucial. The NHS suggest you must self-isolate for 7 days should you develop symptoms of Covid-19, or 14 days if you live with someone showing symptoms. For more information on what to do after these periods, take a look at the Covid-19 advice given by the NHS.
Plan for new ways of working
There are various changes you can make within a warehouse to help enforce the 2-meter social distancing rule and contain the spread of Covid-19. Here are a few points to consider for your workplace.
Create workplace zones
- Create workplace ‘zones’ to segregate colleagues. This will help with adherence to social distancing measures.
- Designate individual work zones for colleagues working in fixed locations. This can be done effectively by marking the floor where possible with social distancing floor marking tape.
- If aisles can’t be dedicated to a single colleague, enforce a one-way traffic system with the directions clearly marked on the floor. This will help encourage safe distancing measures by ensuring colleagues don’t cross paths closely.
- Assign picking zones to include specific shelving, racking, or block stack aisles.
Arrivals & End of shift
- Reduce interaction between colleagues on arrival and when leaving work.
- Stagger start times by a few minutes to stop crowding and mark the floor with tape for safe distance queues where necessary.
- Where possible, work in staggered shift patterns.
- Separate entrance / exit doors for colleagues to help encourage social distancing.
- Introduce personal temperature checks at the entrance.
- For extra hygiene, a hand sanitiser stand at the entrance of buildings is recommended.