The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated both the headlines and our lives for the best part of 2020. In the UK, the so-called new normal has been in places since March with social distancing and various lockdown measures now seeming commonplace for many of us. For the lucky majority, work has been unaffected and has simply become a remote position with hundreds of thousands of people now working from home instead of the office. However, there are also thousands of businesses which had to close at the height of the pandemic to protect their employees and are only now beginning to recover and return to work.
In industrial locations, such as warehouses, this return to work has required an overhaul and increase of safety measures along with the creation of a COVID-19 specific risk assessment and risk management plan. With these new safety measures in mind, worXmart are going to cover the top most important safety considerations for warehouses and industrial premises.
Staggering Shifts
Reducing the number of people that are in the space at any one time is crucial. To achieve this, staff shifts should be staggered if they are not already, eliminating any overlap in shifts. In addition to this, where possible, employees should always work in the same teams to prevent the spread of the virus should someone become infected. By working in this way, if someone tests positive for COVID-19 only the team they are on shift with will have to self-isolate rather than the entire workforce at the location. There should also be a cleaning protocol implemented where any communal areas are disinfected between shifts to help further minimise the chance of any cross-contamination between teams.
Improved Cleaning Measures
Naturally, cleaning and disinfecting of facilities has become far more of a priority for businesses than they were before the pandemic. All areas and surfaces are not only more thoroughly cleaned and disinfected too, but they are also more frequently cleaned too.
Disinfectant products are now being used in places where cleaning products would have sufficed in the past. Surfaces must now be cleaned more thoroughly than ever before, especially areas that are frequently touched by multiple people such as switches, door handles, keyboards, faucets, countertops, and appliances.
These measures should also be supported by decontamination of the space itself, achieved by the use of disinfectants and decontamination products like fog machines which create a non-toxic fog to quickly and effectively sanitise larger areas.
Regular Temperature Checks
Having already been implemented in bars, restaurants, and hairdressers’, it only makes sense that warehouses also adopt the practice of temperature checks. Introducing this measure will help to protect employees, preventing a potentially infectious individual from entering the facility and spreading the virus before they become ill enough to show other symptoms.
All businesses, regardless of industry, should have a risk management plan in place – which should be reviewed and updated as necessary when unusual situations arise (such as the COVID-19 pandemic). Yes, the risks associated with the coronavirus are unusual, but having a good risk management plan already in place means it will be easier for you to deal with it – thanks to your existing protocols and procedures.
When you are reviewing your risk management plan, in light of COVID-19, you should make sure you look at:
- How you work with suppliers and the supply chain in general. How will you deal with any upsets, such as cancelled orders or a reduction in production?
- How are you going to communicate with customers about order decreases or increases and tackle their concerns in a helpful way?
- How stable are your inbound and outbound transportation providers? Are they able to offer you 24/7deliveries and pickups if you need them?
- Do you have enough employees to cover if you see a sudden increase in demand, or if some of your employees have to shield for 12 weeks? Is your workforce flexible enough to change if demand slows down and you need to reduce individual working hours?
- Do you have a cross-training strategy in place to ensure key employee tasks are still covered if they go off sick or on holiday?
- Do you have an adequate resource in-house to support your equipment and technology needs?
All of this reviewing and planning should be an on-going process, which adapts to changes in technology, manpower, your product mix, and the market in general. If you want to follow best practices, you should also have a ‘Disaster Recovery Plan’ which would allow you to move part or all of your operations to another space if need be.
The other important thing to think about is your employee’s concerns and how you will handle those. Employees will probably be concerned about how their hours may change (will they increase, decrease or stay the same), and what additional precautions you will undertake to keep them safe in the workplace (such as providing hand sanitizers and conducting deep cleans on a regular basis).
So, taking all of this into consideration, the best practices for warehouses during the COVID-19 outbreak are:
- Have a solid communication plan in place which covers employees, customers, suppliers and transporters.
- Ensure all employees are aware and acting on the personal hygiene guidelines – including hand washing, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), and so on
- All employees are aware of and practicing social distancing according to guidelines
- More regular deep cleaning taking place, especially high traffic areas
- Ensuring you have adequate supplies of hand sanitizer and disinfectant to ensure employees are able to use them if they are not able to wash their hands as often as they should
At worm art we believe that warehouses are one of the most essential services – after all, warehouses hold the stock that everyone needs to be able to survive! So, we are working hard to ensure your business’ survival by providing you with all of the products you need to keep your warehouse running smoothly.
