How factories can implement Social Distancing Policies safely

Social distancing is a buzz word that many of us had never heard of before 2020. Now, many of us have had experience with social distancing and it has become a bit of a habit. Of course, as more office spaces and factories begin to open their doors again for staff, social distancing measures need to be addressed in a slightly different way.

Below, we are going to look at how factories can implement social distancing policies safely. Read on to find out some of our tips.

Educate Staff

If you want to implement social distancing policies safely, you will need to educate any staff that will be returning to the factory. Staff will already be aware of social distancing measures as they have been living through the pandemic for several months but they might not know what is expected of them in the workplace. If you can, hold a training session and educate your staff on what they need to do when they return. If you can’t hold a socially distanced training session, you can always try a virtual one.

Remove Unnecessary Equipment

In many factories across the country, there is a lot of equipment lying around that isn’t being used at all times. If you don’t have all of your team members in the factory at once in order to keep them distanced, you don’t need to have as many workstations or machines. However, you won’t want to have to throw away any of these things as this will cost you more in the long-run. For this reason, we suggest that you place these extra items in a storage space. Safestore.co.uk has many locations across the country so this could be a good place to start.

Offer Flexible Working

As many people have had to work from home for the past few months, their working pattern has changed a lot. More people are hoping to continue to work from home or change their hours in order to suit their new lifestyle. If possible, you could consider offering a flexible working contract for your employees in the factory. This way, everyone won’t be in at the same time and you’ll find social distancing much easier.

Create A One-Way System

If you have visited any cafes or bars since they reopened, you might have noticed some one-way systems. This is an effective way to direct people around the room in order to avoid them coming into contact with others unnecessarily. If you could implement a one-way system in your factory, you could find that you could socially distance your staff more easily. This isn’t possible for everyone but it is worth a try.

Use Signage

Finally, if you want to safely socially distance in your factory, you should add as much signage as possible. People can’t always accurately estimate how far away 1 metre or 2 metres are but with signage, this is much easier. Put some markers on the floor to show the correct distance and use further signage to encourage hand washing and one-way systems. The more signage, the more reminders your staff will have of what is expected of them.

Get Started

Now that some factories are allowed to reopen, social distancing is crucial in order to keep everyone safe. If you are running a factory and want to protect your staff, you should try out some of the tips that we have given you. Get rid of any clutter, educate your staff and use as much signage as possible to create a safe workspace.