With Covid-19 lockdown measures easing, many businesses are asking staff to return to the office and others are considering when and how to do so. At Procol, we can help you prepare your office space practically and flexibly to achieve the safer ways of working needed today – and to easily accommodate any changes that might need to be made tomorrow. Whether you’re simply seeking to source some glass screens, or want the full benefit of our informed advice, practical support, and in-depth product and technical knowledge, we are here to help.
How Procol help make your office Covid-safe
We take a more holistic approach to creating a safe office environment for your staff. In each instance, our aim is to help you:
- Significantly enhance staff safety and wellbeing right now
- Accommodate increased numbers as social distancing relaxes
- Keep the right tools in place to react if lockdown measures are tightened again
We will utilise our considerable experience in office design to make recommendations based on your particular situation and requirements. This may involve us providing assistance with some or all the areas covered shown below.
Take the next step
To learn more, join our clients who have already received our new ‘Post-Covid Office’ presentation. It provides further insight into the ideas, innovations, additions and alterations that will prepare your office for the road ahead.
For your copy – or to discuss your needs with a member of our expert team – call 01225 701701 or email enquiries@procol.co.uk.
Ideas, innovations and insights to protect your staff and your business
Desking: smart changes for a safe and flexible layout
The heart of our recommendations for creating a Covid-safe working environment will be the creation of a flexible, zoned office layout.
We’ll start by considering the office furniture already present. Much can be often be done with what is in place. For example, rotating selected desks can reduce face-to-face orientations, and moving some desks apart can create sensibly-distanced separations.
Where necessary, existing furniture can be augmented with the likes of glass screens and fabric-covered side panels to create personal barriers, or adding personal ‘work pods’.
The items we specify are all easy to clean – and some even have a protective topcoat with antibacterial properties.
Ventilation and air conditioning: maximising air quality to minimise risk
Air conditioning systems are often set to recirculate the air in a building and draw in only a small amount of fresh air from outside. And depending on the system in place, it may not be currently fitted with filters that can remove or reduce the presence of coronavirus.
Creating a Covid-safe office therefore demands a rethink of the way your office space is ventilated and how your cooling systems are configured.
As experts in air conditioning, we can advise on best-practice use of ventilation and HVAC systems to maximise air quality and minimise the risk of build-up and recirculation of contaiminents such as coronavirus.
Meetings: enable essential face-to-face interaction in a Covid-safe way
The likes of Zoom, Teams and Skype are convenient ways for people to interact, but sometimes people will need to meet in person.
There are benefits to communication, creativity and company culture that are only possible with personal interaction. And face-to-face meetings on your premises can also ensure a degree of confidentiality that video conferencing cannot.
We can help you create flexible, socially distanced meeting zones for informal or less-confidential discussions, and put smart, hygienic, cleverly ventilated meeting hubs in place for more-private sessions.
Moving around: facilitating safer circulation of staff and visitors
People need to move around your office, not just sit at their desks. This needs to be managed from the moment they set foot inside your premises.
Our designers can plan changes to your office layout that include one-way systems and/or widened walkways and passing bays.
And we can provide advice and recommendations for smart technical solutions such as automatic doors and app-based access-control systems.
People will also need to use the washrooms, and we can help there too. For example, installing sensors on taps and flushes not only avoids the need to touch them, but reduces water usage too.
Eating and drinking: improve the layout and function of your canteen
The solution to making your canteen Covid-safe is not to ask people to eat at their desks, as this is bad for hygiene and productivity!
Now, as it was pre-Covid, encouraging staff to take a break from their desks is a good thing.
We can help you reorganise your canteen layout to accommodate social distancing at the same time as fostering better communication.
We can also advise on simple measures such as occupancy levels and direction control, and practical solutions ranging from improved ventialation to touch-free drinks dispensers.
Home working: enhancing the set-up for staff away from the office
Until it is safe and sensible to return to maximim occupancy in the office, many (or at least, some) of your staff may continue to work from home.
Sitting on the sofa with a laptop may sound comfy, but it plays havoc with posture and is detrimental to productivity.
We can select and supply office furniture suitable for the home. We deal with a wide range of manufacturers, so are perfectly placed to source anything that’s needed. Some of our suppliers even produce specific homeworking hubs (typically a desk, chair and light) that provide especially good value.