HYGIENE AND HEALTH AND SAFETY
designing signage and communication practices, since it is only through effective communication that building occupants will reliably change their behaviour to manage risk. Once the behaviours required of occupants have been identified, appropriate signage can be designed and installed.
Signage and education are indeed vital means of keeping all building occupants safe – whether it be through update alerts, informing staff of changes in practice or building usage, or reminders to maintain a high level of hygiene. Using clear signs can serve a dual purpose – of both reducing, and mitigating, exposure to risks. Through clear signage of high-risk touchpoints, for example, occupants will avoid contact with these areas where possible, reducing the risk in the particular location, and reminding those who do come into contact with items or surfaces there to wash their hands and take additional care not to touch their face. These signs will also be an additional reminder to the cleaning staff. Although such personnel will have been well briefed on the high-risk areas, it is good to add reminders to ensure that cleaning staff pay particular attention for as long as is necessary, and continuously maintain the highest quality of service.
Impact of regular changing of signage
Signage clearly displayed around the hospital or healthcare facility can be used to keep all occupants up to date on current protocols and the measures in place for their protection, making building use a far less stressful process. Changing it on a regular basis makes it far more effective, as people will take a moment to read something new, whereas once read, a familiar sign can quickly become part of the background, and the message can be forgotten. Positive and eye-catching signs are particularly effective. Clear signs at regular points throughout the building also act as another means of providing reassurance to building users that risk prevention measures are in place. This can mean sharing information, as well as reminders to maintain hygiene practices. Making clear what cleaning measures are in place, or providing statistics such as the percentage reduction in risk provided by face coverings, shows that facilities managers have developed a keen understanding of the risks and how they are best managed.
Digital signs and videos
Finally, remember that posters are not the only form of signage. Digital signs and videos are far more flexible when updating protocols and encouraging engagement. They can be effective demonstrations of expected behaviour, especially when some visitors to the
54 Health Estate Journal July 2021
‘Community areas’, such as the hospital reception, are examples of specifically high-risk points for potential transmission.
building may not speak English fluently. Signage should also provide contact information for any building user that is worried or unsure about their risk.
Business continuity plans A business continuity plan should be put in place, ensuring that deep cleaning, or even partial building closure, can take place if necessary, and that these can take place with as little disruption to working processes as possible. Understanding which core provisions are required to keep the building functioning can be useful if certain areas of the building need to be temporarily closed. Trying to make
these plans only when they become necessary to implement can be hugely costly, and may limit access to healthcare services to those in need.
To minimise the risk of building closure, the core building services, such as air and water quality, need to meet all compliance measures, and potentially surpass them. A programme control document can be an important measure in ensuring this. It should include the latest versions of all facilities documentation, such as risk assessments, cleaning rotas, and swab test results. When different teams are responsible for separate measures, elements can fall through the gaps without anyone noticing, with each believing that another team is responsible. It is vital that facilities management personnel have a comprehensive overview of all practices to ensure that no elements are overlooked, and that teams support one another to streamline processes.
Utilising the risk assessment Every one of these control measures should be scored to identify and measure the level of risk. This process is key in identifying areas of risk that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Only once an effective and comprehensive assessment has been carried out will Facilities managers be able to implement all necessary risk prevention measures. As building usage and national and local risk change, building managers should regularly revisit and repeat these risk assessments and implement any necessary changes, or risk an outbreak which could bring the building and employees to a halt.
Positive and eye-catching signs are particularly effective.
It is also important that Facilities managers commit to a long-term plan for
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