How Much Is Office Space in London?
- 10 Minute Read
With coronavirus restrictions constantly changing, it’s important to have a plan for returning to the office post-Covid.
At the time of writing, current guidance states that anyone who can work from home must do so.
But whether all your employees are working remotely, or you’ve already partially returned, it’s essential to make changes to your workplace to ensure everyone is safe when they’re able to come back.
Here are five things to consider for returning to the office safely.
Before bringing employees back to the office, the first thing to do is update your risk assessment. This will help you understand what you need to do to manage the risks of coronavirus and keep your employees safe.
Although no employer can completely eliminate the risks associated with Covid-19, all employers have a legal responsibility to protect workers from risk to their health and safety.
This means you need to make sure your risk assessment addresses the risks of Covid-19, and that you do everything you can to minimise them.
It’s a good idea to talk to your employees about your new health and safety measures. Your workers are likely to be the best people to understand the risks associated with their own jobs, and will have views on how they can work safely.
If possible, have individual discussions with your employees to talk about their concerns and how you’ll address them. Involving your employees in this way shows that you are prioritising their health and safety.
Your risk assessment should:
For more information on conducting your risk assessment, see the Health and Safety Executive’s guidance.
It’s essential to maintain social distance throughout the office wherever possible. In England, this means staying two metres apart, or one metre apart with risk mitigation if two metres isn’t possible.
Social distancing should be in place in all parts of the building, not just the places where workers spend most of their time.
If possible, introduce a one-way system for entering and leaving the office to reduce congestion. Consider introducing staggered arrival and leaving times to reduce crowding at the entrances and exits.
Workstations should be moved to ensure people can socially distance, and should be assigned to a single person rather than shared.
If it isn’t possible to move workstations further apart, arrange them facing away from each other or side by side rather than face-to-face. You could also introduce screens to separate people from each other.
You should avoid using hot desks wherever possible. If absolutely necessary, they should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitised between different occupants.
If your office is small, these measures may not be possible. If this is the case, you may need to reduce the number of people in the office at any one time. Consider introducing a booking system for desks or rooms, ensuring they’re sanitised between uses.
Before bringing employees back to work, you should ensure the entire office has been cleaned and sanitised.
You should also introduce a new, thorough cleaning regime to reduce the risk of transmission. This should include:
If you need to clean after a suspected or known case of Covid-19, you should refer to the specific government guidance.
It’s vital to encourage good hygiene amongst your staff and visitors when returning to the office post-Covid. Put posters or signs up throughout the office that remind people to:
You should also provide:
Wherever possible, you should limit face-to-face contact between people.
If staff need to have meetings with external contacts or colleagues outside of their immediate team, encourage them to do this via Zoom or a phone call instead of in person.
If an in-person meeting is unavoidable, only those who absolutely must be there should participate, and you should ensure they can maintain social distancing. If possible, hold meetings outdoors or in well-ventilated rooms. Make sure hand sanitiser is provided, and avoid sharing items like pens and documents.
If an employee or someone in their household has coronavirus symptoms, they should isolate and not come into work. From 28 September 2020, by law employers cannot require someone who is self-isolating to come to work.
When the time comes for returning to the office post-Covid, it’s absolutely essential to make sure you can do this in a way that cares for your employees and safeguards their health and wellbeing.
Our five steps should set you on the right track, but for more detailed guidance on returning to the office safely see the government’s guidance.
If you're looking for office space, why not browse our range of offices? We provide affordable, all-inclusive and flexible office space in London.