Building or redesigning your workplace post-Covid-19 pandemic can seem like a daunting task, especially if your organization currently has an open office design. Prioritizing the health and safety of your employees doesn’t mean you have to gut your offices, put walls in between everyone’s workspaces, or spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are simple and effective ways to start protecting your employees today. Omni Commercial Group makes post-pandemic office design simple, and we want to work with you to design the best options for your office.
Prioritizing Health
Post-Covid-19 pandemic office spaces are looking to prioritize human health in the workplace. Part of this discussion revolves around office design. Protecting your employees at work from the spread of diseases, including the flu, doesn’t have to mean abandoning the open office design. In fact, open office designs promote better airflow, which is better for employee health. One of the best things organizations can do to protect their employees from spreading germs is by installing clear plastic guards between everyone’s work stations.
Ensuring these plastic guards allow for adequate airflow is also important. Having increased airflow throughout your organization will help keep air moving so germs don’t settle or remain stagnant in the air. Increasing the number of windows that can open and let in fresh air from outside would also help protect your employees. If possible, giving your building higher ceilings and more open spaces for safe collaboration will also increase airflow. Finally, another great way to bring the outdoors inside is to get office plants. Several plants have the ability to purify and clean the air. Check out this list of air purifying plants by Medium recommended by NASA.
Hybrid Workplaces
With employees still working from home, a lot of organizations are seeing a hybrid working model emerge. Employees are still working from home, while some are coming into the office for a few days a week. This hybrid working in the office and at home model allows organizations to think about redesigning their workspace. If employees are working from home, they don’t need a large dedicated space at work, allowing the organization to create more open and collaborative spaces. Since employees’ report working productively during this pandemic, it might be in organization’s best interest to shrink their at-work office space to make room for more company-focused spaces (think: Christmas party, philanthropic events, culture-building activities, large meetings, etc.)
Eliminate Touch Points
Eliminating high touch areas will help lessen the spread of diseases. One of the biggest culprits is touching doors. There are two ways to combat the touching-doors issue. One, hand waving sensors can be installed to open doors. Instead of opening the door yourself or pushing a button to open the door, your employees can wave their hand over a sensor to open the door. Another option is getting rid of doors completely and using wall placement and design for privacy. An example of this is airport or other public bathrooms where individuals can simply walk in without having to worry about touching a door but are still given privacy by strategic wall placement.
Conclusion
Keeping your employees safe doesn’t mean you have to redesign your entire building from the ground up. There are options to keep you and your employees safe by simply modifying your current workspace. If you’re having trouble considering how to redesign your space for increased employee safety and health, contact Omni Commercial Group. We would love to help you analyze your current space and design solutions to protect your organization.
