FEATURE
A SIGN OF THE TIMES
Here, Danny Adamson, Managing Director at Stocksigns, covers the current HSE guidance on creating a COVID-secure work environment and the important role played by signs and visual aids.
As many workplaces across the country gradually reopen and welcome back employees, it is important that adaptations are made to ensure that the space is a safe as possible.
The current Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance on how to work safely during the coronavirus outbreak outlines a number of social distancing and hygiene measures that should be put in place before workers return to a communal environment. In many cases these measures can be reinforced with the use of floor and wall signage to ensure that employees remain alert to the new way of working and do not put themselves at risk.
Whatever the working environment, the HSE recommends that employee arrival and departure times should be staggered to decrease traffic at entrances and exits. To further reduce traffic, a one way system can be put in place to make it less likely employees will have to pass one another in close proximity; this is particularly important in tight spaces like hallways. The quick and easy installation of floor vinyls, for example arrows or footsteps, is a good way to indicate a one way system and are now a familiar sight to many, having seen them in use in supermarkets and shops. The use of floor tape is also recommended to mark work areas and ensure a safe distance is maintained between employees as well as demarcating no-go zones and reinforcing routes on one way systems.
Signs should also be installed throughout a facility to remind employees and visitors to maintain one, if not two, metres social distancing at all times. There are a wide variety of these signs on the market, which can be tailored to the individual space and also branded with company colours and logos if required.
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Hygiene measures are another crucial part of the HSE guidance, which recommend that hand washing or sanitising stations should be set up throughout a workplace. Signage can again be used in these instances to encourage the use of these facilities. In particular, it is a good idea to install signs which clearly outline and remind users of the recommended hand washing techniques as this will ensure that the appropriate hygiene levels are maintained by all staff.
In previously communal spaces, the HSE advises restricting the number of people permitted to enter or work in that space as well as rearranging and removing furniture to deter additional occupants. Signs both inside and outside a room can be used to clarify the number of users allowed within, and these signs can also be installed on bathrooms, lifts and anywhere else where space is at a premium. Finally, we would advise that that clear indication of where to sit within a communal space is wise to ensure that social distancing guidelines are adhered to.
For many individuals, the changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic will have a noticeable effect on how they go about their day to day routine for the foreseeable future. Where new working practices are introduced, it is therefore important that workers are clearly briefed in on the new processes and can feel at ease that sufficient safety measures are in place.
Given just how differently building occupants need to behave in order to protect themselves and each other, signage can play an important part role, by making sure that measures are clear and easy to follow and serving as a crucial reminder of what to do, and how to move through a space in line with social distancing.
www.stocksigns.co.uk/product-category/covid-19-signs www.tomorrowshs.com
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