With the coronavirus still continuing to spread across the world, we’ve put together a handy guide on best practices companies and human resources departments should follow to help their employees stay healthy and infection-free.

How the Coronavirus spreads

First, we need to understand how the novel coronavirus spreads.

According to the CDC, coronaviruses are most commonly spread through:

1. The air: Through viral particles or droplets when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Such airborne droplets can infect another person who breathes them in.
2. Close personal contact: Such as by shaking hands or touching an infected person, followed by touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.
3. Surfaces contaminated with viral particles: Viral particles can settle on surfaces within 1 meter of an infected person. Touching these surfaces followed by ingestion can lead to infection.
4. Fecal contamination: Rare

This makes it all the more important that all office-goers and employers take every precaution to protect themselves and sanitize their workplace.

How to disinfect your workspace

To disinfect your workspace, use disinfecting wipes that contain bleach or above 60% alcohol and follow these steps:

1. Clear your desk of items and wipe down your tabletop with the disinfecting wipe.
2. Unplug your office phone and wipe it down with the disinfecting wipe. take particular care to clean the receiver and keypad.
3. Unplug your keyboard (or laptop) and tap it over a trash can to dislodge particles caught between the keys. Use compressed air to get those hard-to-reach areas below the keys. Wipe the keypads clean with disinfecting wipes.
4. Mobile phones are especially germy. Remove your cover (if any) and wipe down both the phone and the cover.
5. Wipe down your chair, particularly the arms, with a disinfecting wipe.
6. If you have a door to your office, make sure to clean both sides of the door handle thoroughly.

Keep a pack of disinfecting wipes at your desk so you can disinfect your workspace at least once a day, ideally at the start. This will avoid a germ build-up.

Hire a professional cleaning service to double-check all the disinfecting and cleaning details in your office during this outbreak.

Sources:

https://sg.altizen.com/coronavirus-prevention-tips-for-your-workplace/ 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html