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The pandemic isn’t over just yet and with the threat of new variants, it’s worth having a stringent health and safety process in place at your retail outlet.
Below, we explore how to successfully enforce such policies among your staff and customers.
Training Sessions
You can lay the foundations of your health and safety process by providing your staff with some basic training sessions.
You just need to go over the simple rules for minimizing risk in your store. This could involve training for sanitizing items or areas that are regularly touched by a variety of people within your setting.
You can also go over the basics of social distancing and safely help customers.
Masks
All your staff should have the appropriate PPE to ensure they can work safely. It’s the responsibility of the retailer to make sure that staff have these items.
The correct mask forms the basis of this. Even if it’s difficult to enforce that all customers wear masks, you can protect your staff by mandating that they put on face coverings.
Sanitation Points
Washing your hands frequently and thoroughly can help limit the spread of germs. To facilitate this in your store, you can set up sanitation points.
This is where you add a few stands so customers and staff can sanitise and dry their hands. Ideally, you’ll have one by the entrance and then others dotted around sporadically.
Posters for Staff and Customers
It’s easy to forget to wear a mask or to sanitise, but you can remind staff and customers with signage. You can order branded posters to blend in with your aesthetic and grab the attention, making them a handy way of upholding health and safety standards.
Train Staff for What They Should Be Telling Customers
Many customers will be asking staff for advice on how to follow your store’s regulations. To prepare for this, your staff should be trained for providing exemplary customer service.
They need to be taught what to say to customers and also how to approach someone who’s breaking your store’s rules.
Lateral Flow Testing
It’s best practice to get your staff in the habit of doing weekly lateral flow tests. COVID cases can often be asymptomatic and the best way to spot them is through regular lateral flow tests.
Ideally, your staff will take two tests a week and if there’s a positive test, they should be able to self-isolate before spreading the virus.
Enforcing health and safety in your business is key. From training your staff to putting up posters and sanitation points, you need to prepare your business to withstand any new variants during the pandemic.