4 things you should monitor to ensure the health and safety of customers and employees

4 things you should monitor to ensure the health and safety of customers and employees

As deconfinement gradually commences and businesses reopen, we need to roll up our sleeves and remain vigilant. We’re in uncharted territory. Our actions now will have a significant impact on everyone’s health&mdashcustomers and employees alike.

During this somewhat surreal period, keeping people safe requires some creative strategizing. Business owners have a social responsibility to properly equip themselves, train their staff efficiently, and reinvent customer service practices.

If you’re in retail or an essential business, here are four important deconfinement factors to consider.

1) The store entrance

Deconfinement doesn’t mean zero risks. It’s crucial that we apply proper public health measures before customers and employees even step through the door.

Before customers enter your business, make sure they’re masked, that they’re hands are disinfected, and that they have no flu-like symptoms. To manage this process, you could post an employee at the entrance to enforce sanitary rules (provided they have the appropriate protective gear).

Some merchants are even choosing to install a secure decontamination system that mists a disinfectant solution onto each customer while simultaneously assessing their symptoms. Purihaze, for instance, is a Quebec-made sanitation cabin that could be a smart investment for some businesses.

Now, let’s talk about hand disinfection. We know the subject has been covered at length; nevertheless, we must continue driving the message home: wash your hands! Merchants should place hand gel for both customers and employees at the entrance.

Remember, these hand sanitizing solutions should be made up of at least 60% alcohol. And if they are local, even better! Check out these three homegrown manufacturers:

• Druide Bio;
• Dans un jardin;
• The Green Beaver;

Also, be sure to adopt these best practices:

• Post your health and safety rules prominently at your entrance
• Refuse any outside shopping bags; rather, provide clients with disinfected carts or baskets
• Place crowd control belts at the store entrance and lay down markers to keep everyone two meters apart

2) Chairs in aesthetic clinics and hair salons

It’s not just retail businesses that are back at it; several aesthetic clinics and hair salons are also reopening on June 1. Of course, for these service providers,

professionals can’t do their jobs unless they break the two-meter barrier. To ensure the health and safety of everyone, you’ve got lots to consider. For instance:

● Space out workstations

● Clean, disinfect, and sterilize equipment between each client

● Place plexiglass panels between chairs

● Take only one client at a time

● Disinfect chairs after each use

● Wear visors, masks, and gloves

And speaking of visors, masks, and gloves, here are some protective products designed in Quebec:

• Protective visors - Protège-toi
• Plexiglass windows - PlexiPlus
• Protective gloves - Lalema
• Protective aprons - Sanichoix[A1]
• Disinfection equipment for medical instruments - Dufort et Lavigne

3) Changing rooms

Before the pandemic, hygiene was already an important consideration for items tried on in stores. Now, it’s next level!

Clothing retailers must ensure the health and safety of customers by:

● Reducing the number of fitting rooms available

● Quarantining all articles tried on&mdashthey should be steam cleaned and set aside for 24 to 72 hours before returning to shelves

● Moving items behind plexiglass counters or screens to limit handling (some customer want to touch everything)

● Disinfect cabins after each use

4) Cash registers

If you’ve visited grocery stores or pharmacies in the past few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly realized how much lineups and wait times have changed. These new protocols are probably here to stay.

Tight procedures must be followed to keep everyone safe:

● Coordinate lineups far from cash registers

● Space customers two meters apart

● Serve only one customer at a time during checkout

● Provide cashiers with gloves and masks

● Ask customers to package their purchased goods themselves

● Keep everyone clean with sanitization products at the checkout desk

And regarding this latter point, here are some local sanitization products you should consider:

● Disinfectant wipes (hospital grade) - Oxivir TB

● Cleaners and disinfectants - Lalema

Together, let’s do our part to ensure the health and safety of customers and employees

From Montreal to Gaspé, everyone needs to unite and remain responsible. Let’s encourage our merchants to help deconfinement run smoothly.

In closing, here are a few final tips we should all consider:

● Mop the floor several times a day

● When cleaning, start with the cleanest areas and then finish with the most soiled areas

● Determine a cleaning schedule for frequently touched surfaces (e.g., every hour)

● Disinfect equipment every day

And above all, remember that maintaining vigilant health and safety practices is an investment in everyone’s future.

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