With storms and freezing temperatures, winter can be a challenge for business operations, employees and customers. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to cope with winter weather situations and keep your staff and clients safe from injuries.
The experts at ServiceMaster Clean by LoveJoy have compiled these workplace safety and sickness prevention tips for winter weather.
Winter Safety Checklist For Businesses
Remove snow and ice from walkways.
- Clear outdoor passages of snow and ice, like parking lots and sidewalks. To make public areas accessible, consider asking neighboring commercial facilities or businesses to do the same.
- If weather networks forecast snow or freezing temperatures, put down salt the night before the event as a precautionary measure.
- Consider getting the service of a professional snow removal company for heavy storms.
- Remind employees to practice caution when driving to and from work.
Prepare an emergency kit.
- In case you get stranded at work due to a winter storm, prepare a survival kit head of time for your safety.
- Your winter emergency kit should include non-perishable food and clean water that could last everyone at least three days, flashlights, thermal blankets, a battery- or solar-powered radio, maintenance medicine and health kits, along with a traditional first aid kit.
Utilize caution signs and remain compliant.
- Walking and working surfaces, as well as hazard signs, must follow certain requirements and standards as required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
- Ensure that your walkways and signage are compliant with OSHA regulations to alert people of wet or slippery surfaces.
- As soon as a hazard is recognized, put up caution signs where anyone passing by can see them.
Utilize absorbent floor carpets and mats.
- To keep moisture from tracking in melting snow or ice under control, make use of absorbent carpets and mats to prevent excess water and mud on your floors.
- To prevent the occurrence of slips and trips, place mats at all entrances and exits.
- Any standing water on the floor must be mopped up immediately.
Remind employees to put on the right footwear.
- For your employees' safety, remind them to wear shoes suited for winter.
- Winter footwear are often insulated and water-resistant, which provide better traction, are more reliable than regular shoes, and decrease the risk of accidental falls.
- Remind employees not to rush and to take small steps to be able to react to traction changes with more control.
How to Prevent Illnesses this Winter
During the winter months, viruses can remain active longer due to colder temperatures. Employees can get exposed to pathogens in the workplace. Highly touched surfaces, such as door handles, phones, tables and other office equipment, can house germs from sick coworkers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some recommendations to prevent illnesses from or spreading germs. Here are some cold and flu prevention tips from the professionals at ServiceMaster Clean by LoveJoy.
Proper hand hygiene
Proper handwashing is one of the best ways to prevent getting sick. Here’s how to wash your hands correctly.
- Use warm water and soap. Wash your hands regularly throughout the day and dry them using disposable towels.
- Wash your hands after using the bathroom and after coming into contact with any bodily fluid, including your own.
- If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based sanitizer. Always keep an alcohol-based sanitizer on your desk or in your bag.
Cough etiquette
Remind your staff to remember these tips when coughing at work.
- When coughing, cover your mouth with a tissue, if possible.
- Discard used tissues in a wastebasket.
- If there are no tissues available, cough into the crook of your arm or cover your mouth with your hands.
- After coughing, immediately wash your hands with soap and water.
Keep surroundings clean
Clean workspaces minimize germs and can even increase worker productivity, especially with regular disinfection. Reduce the number of germs in your office by following these steps.
- Perform regular cleaning and disinfection, especially of high-touch surfaces. Use disinfectant wipes or low-level disinfectant products to help kill germs in communal spaces like bathrooms and kitchens as well as in personal work areas.
- Make sure that the workplace has adequate supplies such as paper towels, tissues, hand sanitizers, soap and disinfectant wipes to keep it clean every day.
- Allow sick employees to go home to lessen the risk of infecting other employees.
Schedule an Appointment for Professional Cleaning Services in Atlanta, Georgia
If you require professional services for a facility deep clean, ServiceMaster Clean by LoveJoy of Atlanta has a 24/7-available reliable response a with live answering service to answer all your concerns. We service residential and commercial properties in Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Decatur, Stockbridge, Conyers, McDonough, Stone Mountain, Covington, Social Circle, and Dekalb County, Georgia and surrounding areas.
- We have a well-equipped professional team with modern equipment.
- Contact us at (678) 672-3222 to schedule an appointment.
- You may also send us a message online.
- We are located at: 700 Blacklawn Rd SW Conyers, GA 30012 USA
