Business in a Pre-Vaccine World
Many businesses were shut down as “non-essential” last March to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Many employees of businesses that continued operations started working from home. Some of these employees had an adequate home office, others did not and were working from the kitchen table.
Until a vaccine is created, manufactured, and deployed – this is our world.
The modern workplace has been created to allow for efficiency and collaboration; work spaces are designed with human ergonomics in place and controlled lighting, and heating & cooling. The proximity to necessary office tools such as scanners, copiers, and printers all work together to improve efficiency.
People are now learning how to live and work while wearing face masks, maintaining appropriate physical distancing, and using hand sanitizer. The adaptations we’ve made in response to the virus will become permanent parts of our culture. Some of these practices should have been part of our daily practices anyway.
We were at a business lunch recently and noticed the chef in the back wearing gloves and a protective face mask while preparing food. One person noted that the chef should have always been wearing a mask while leaning over our food.
HVAC systems are a part of the efficient modern workplace – providing comfort and filtered air. Many facility managers consider safety to be a key aspect of their roles, and one they take seriously. Keeping to a preventative maintenance schedule and ensuring all components within the system are functioning as peak levels is important.
Employees are returning to the office environment. We’ve seen alternative schedules being used to minimize the number of employees in the office at one time – to manage physical distancing. The HVAC system operation timing has also been adapted to this “new normal”.
Maintaining control of the system ensures optimization of energy usage while providing safe and comfortable conditions. Our founder spent many years managing facilities and understands the need to balance employee requests and managing the complex aspects of the building.
We will all rest easier when an effective vaccine is available, and we’ve contained this virus. Until then, we need to ensure our employees feel safe returning to the office environment.
If you have questions about employees returning to work, reach out to us. We are all in this together.