How to Take the Right Precautions for Business Deliveries During a Pandemic
Deliveries are the lifeblood of any business. We rely on our vendors for all sorts of things, and in the current state of the world, they depend on us to ensure their safety while they’re on our property. Whether you’re dealing with delivery drivers, construction crews, or maintenance staff, when people visit your business you have a responsibility to keep them safe and to protect your staff.
Ever-changing public health guidelines can make it challenging to figure out exactly which COVID-19 business solutions are best for you and your employees. We’ve spent the last year navigating pandemic safety with our clients, and we’ve put together a list of tips to help keep you, your vendors, and your employees safe while receiving deliveries.
- Practice Basic Safety Measures
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that there is no such thing as “too clean”. When you’re dealing with delivery personnel and construction crews – or anyone other than a regular employee of your company – there are things you can do to enhance everyone’s safety.
a. Wipe down walls and common surfaces at least every 30 minutes. COVID-19 can spread through contaminated surfaces, so clean anything that more than one person touches with bleach or disinfectant spray at least two times every hour.
Pro tip: Buy pre-moistened disinfectant wipes and make surface-area wipe-downs more convenient.
b. Limit the number of people in enclosed spaces: Social distancing is not just for restaurants and public transportation. Even with masks on, it can be dangerous to have too many people in one space at one time. Yes, even if they’re delivering items or repairing equipment. Make sure that if you have more than one person working in an enclosed space at the same time that the area is as ventilated as possible (fresh air is always better than recycled air) and that construction crews and delivery personnel have at least six feet between each other.
c. Have masks, gloves, and personal protective equipment (PPE) readily available: When it comes to COVID-19 and stopping the spread, PPE is essential. If you have people coming in and out of your business throughout the day, leave a box of easily accessible gloves, masks, and other PPE by entrances and exits. Having multiple spots to mask- or glove-up will allow people to change their PPE often and avoid contamination. Do what you can to let people access PPE without making too much contact with the enclosing containers. The fewer people have to touch mask boxes and glove bags, the fewer opportunities there are for contamination or germ spread.
2. Encourage Hand Washing
Hand washing is one of the best ways to avoid COVID-19. Of course, we recommend having antibacterial gel readily available, but portable hand washing stationsare valuable tools that are often overlooked. Portable hand washing stationsare affordable, portable, and easy to install. Place a hand washing stationin front of your business so your vendors can disinfect themselves before entering your establishment, limiting opportunities for contamination and infection.
A good tip is to place your portable hand washing station at your front door, so everyone is germ-free when they enter your business. Once inside, make sure you have several bottles of hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray available so visitors can maintain their clean, COVID-19-free hands throughout the day.
3. Optimize Indoor Space
Social distancing guidelines have turned indoor space into a valuable commodity. As fewer people can inhabit each square inch, you want to make sure that you’re safely utilizing all available space. One way to do this is to store any unused equipment, seasonal items, or anything that you don’t need on a daily or weekly basis in a portable storage unit. Most mobile storage is available in a range of sizes that make them easy to keep on-site in a parking lot or unused outdoor area. The more indoor space you have, the easier it will be to safely receive deliveries, host construction crews, and work with your valued vendors.
4. Make Social Distancing Foolproof
Everyone seems to have a different definition of “six feet apart.” Outside of carrying around a measuring tape, it can be challenging to figure out exactly where to stand in order to safely interact with someone not living in your household. One way to make things easier is to mark your floor with tape that separates your space into six-foot segments. These markers will allow your employees to maintain social distance while interacting with customers, vendors, construction workers, and so on. We recommend using brightly colored tapes like oranges, yellows, and metallics so people can easily identify distance markers.
5. Air Things Out a Bit
Ventilation is key to slowing the spread. Make sure that your workspace is as ventilated as humanly possible. Fresh air is always best, so try to crack a window or two whenever you have more than one person indoors at the same time. We know that this can feel daunting in the winter months, so we suggest using portable heaters and other warming equipment to make ventilated spaces more comfortable.
Take a (Masked) Breath and Get Back to Work
The pandemic has tested us all. As we adjust to this new normal and try to return to business as usual, it’s important to make sure that you’re keeping your staff and your vendors as safe and protected as possible. Together we will beat this thing, one bottle of disinfectant at a time.
Davida Redmond is the leader of the Marketing team of Mobile Mini; the world’s leading provider of portable storage solutions committed to providing our customers with superior services and access to a high-quality and diverse fleet.
