How To Keep Your Employees Safe During An Office Renovation

Managing office renovations isn’t a walk in the park, especially when you have to ensure employees’ safety. As a result, some companies decide to stop their operations until the renovations are done.

While this move keeps employees safe, it negatively affects operations, leading to losses. So, it’s advisable to research ways to keep workers safe during the renovation instead of bringing the operations to a complete stop.

There are lots of ways to ensure employees’ safety during office renovations. For example, adjusting working hours to prevent your employees from working while renovation activities are ongoing can help ensure their safety.

Besides that, personal protective equipment (PPE) comes in handy during renovations to avoid injuries from heavy objects, among other things.

Finally, putting up various types of signage across your location helps employees understand the areas they shouldn’t visit. This prevents common accidents on a construction site involving slips or falls and falling or flying objects.

The following are ways to keep employees safe during an office renovation.

Top 8 Ways To Keep Your Employees Safe During An Office Renovation

1. Communicate With Your Employees Regarding The Renovations

The first step in ensuring your employees’ safety during an office renovation is communicating with them regarding the project. You want to inform them what the project entails to ensure you’re on the same page.

At this point, be transparent about the project. Inform them about the changes they should expect and why they’re necessary. While this information might not be necessary to disclose, it will make the employees feel a part of the project and ensure they comply.

It’s also important to inform your employees who they should reach out to for questions and concerns during the renovations. When your staff is aware of who to contact and how to contact them, especially if they have concerns with the renovation procedure, it will be easier to address the concerns as soon as possible and remove safety threats.

Another point regarding communication is updating the employees about the renovation progress. The employees should understand when the renovations are scheduled to begin and end.

Additionally, any changes regarding the renovations should be made known to them to avoid confusion. With this vital information, your staff can plan their days and how to move around to avoid accidents or interfering with the contractors.

After you’ve communicated everything concerning the renovations to your staff, consider following up to determine if you’re on the same page. For instance, you can hold a meeting and ask questions about the information you’ve provided.

You can also repeat the information you’ve provided to ensure everyone understands and knows what to do in case of any emergency.

2. Be Clear About Safety Measures

Some accidents during an office renovation result from employees’ negligence, not contractors’. Therefore, you should set safety guidelines and have your employees adhere to the letter.

Since your employee’s safety will be at risk during the renovation period, you should educate them on how to stay safe. Also, ensure you develop a safety plan that includes the steps to be taken in an emergency.

Additionally, you can have your employees work from rooms that aren’t under renovation and restrict them from visiting areas with construction work in progress. By doing this, you reduce the chances of employees getting injured by falling and flying objects.

3. Control Dust

Suppose your employees must be on-site during the renovations. In that case, it’s vital to control dust to eliminate the threat of developing allergic reactions and respiratory issues among employees. At this point, it might be ideal to hire professional cleaners who can control dust effectively. To locate reputable professional cleaners in your area, you can begin your search online. For instance, if you reside in Oklahoma, you can search for Oklahoma City Janitor Services. This step will help maintain a healthy and productive work environment while the renovations are underway.

4. Have A Clear Timeline

Your HR department should communicate with the contractors to understand how long the renovation might take. As a result, you’ll be able to develop a clear renovation timeline and working hours. This way, your employees will determine when it’s safe to come to the office and when not to, helping ensure their safety.

5. Rent Office Spaces

If the entire building is under extensive renovation, you might have no choice but to rent temporary office spaces from which your employees can work. You don’t want to risk your employees’ well-being and don’t want work to stop either. In such a case, your goal of ensuring your staff’s safety and continuing to make profits might only lie in renting new working spaces.

6. Be Prepared For Falling Objects And Loud Noise

Depending on the renovations, there might be a risk of flying objects. Such objects travel at high speed and can cause severe injuries. To prevent such accidents, consider asking the contractors to work when employees are away. Also, remember to ask which activities produce loud noises and when they’re scheduled to happen so you can evacuate the employees to another area.

7. Invest In PPE

If your employees have no choice but to work or visit the building under renovation, the best way to enhance their safety is by having them put on proper PPE. These pieces of equipment, such as helmets, safety boots, eye, and ear protectors, face masks, and gloves, come in handy when visiting or working from an area under renovation.

Besides providing your employees with PPE, it’s vital to use signage indicating no-go or safe areas. This will prevent the employees from stepping into rooms under renovation and using the safe areas only instead.

8. Go Remote

If you haven’t yet tried remote working, now might be the best time. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most businesses went remote and proved that working from home can be as practical as working from an office. When working from home, you will not only safeguard your employees’ safety but also ensure the renovations are completed fast while business goes on as usual.

Conclusion

Whether or not your office is being renovated, you must put your employees’ safety first. While you want to upgrade your office, you don’t want the employees to sustain injuries resulting from falls or flying objects.

So, it’s vital to develop safety measures and have employees follow them to avoid dealing with countless personal injury cases.

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