The coronavirus pandemic has raised a variety of concerns for daily business. In response, businesses have begun to adopt new practices to protect their employees. Deliveries are no different!
So what should you do with your office deliveries and mail in this new world of social distancing and extreme caution?
Keep reading, and we’ll break down the basics.
If possible, ask your vendors to require their drivers to maintain six feet of distance from your employees during deliveries. This will protect both your employees and the delivery personnel. There are a variety of ways to do this.
Don’t require a signature or delivery confirmation. If you’re comfortable with your packages being delivered on the front porch of your business without a signature, do it! This will ensure that your employees and the delivery drivers do not come into contact with one another.
Use apps or other electronic means. When possible, use electronic forms of communication, confirmation, etc. While the delivery driver and your employee might still have to speak to one another, they can maintain six feet of distance by using an app or web-based system.
Although the CDC states that the most common way to transmit Covid-19 is through respiratory droplets, it’s still smart to keep things clean. There is not yet enough evidence to prove that it cannot be transmitted on surfaces. Try these tips:
Remind your employees to avoid touching various surfaces. Between their office and the mailroom, your employees will most likely come into contact with multiple high-touch surfaces. These surfaces include doorknobs, elevator buttons, and countertops.
Keep high-touch surfaces disinfected. Put some new cleaning procedures into place that ensure consistent and thorough disinfecting of high-touch surfaces. Remind employees to wipe things down after touching them.
After touching surfaces, wash your hands! Encourage employees to avoid touching their eyes, mouth, and nose after touching various surfaces, including mail and packages. Remind them to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer after opening mail or other packages.
If your mailroom is anything like most businesses, you will definitely come within six feet of another person if there are multiple people in the room. To protect your employees, set up a traffic flow system.
Make a rule that only one person is allowed in the room at a time. If there is only one way in and one way out, decrease the number of people in the area. The recommended amount in most states is one person per 100-120 square feet. Use this as a guide.
Use and “in” door and an “out” door. If your mailroom has more than one door, consider implementing a traffic flow that keeps people from crossing one another’s paths in a doorway.
The coronavirus pandemic doesn’t have to put an end to deliveries and mailrooms. With a little bit of thoughtful planning, businesses can protect their employees from spreading the virus. Keeping everyone safe is everyone’s responsibility!
Which of these protocols are you going to try? Leave us a comment below!