Health & Safety at the Flexible Office under the COVID-19 Threat: As Safe as Home or Safer?

CloudVO Partners and the Flexible Office Space industry as a whole are taking Health & Safety very seriously, just as large companies do.

As State and County regulations have allowed us to go back to the office, the office is not always ready to receive us back. For example, Facebook indicated that they did not expect to have the capacity for more than 25% of the workforce in their corporate space until the end of the year. Google’s estimate was 30%. The main driver for this is health & safety, including de-densification of the office. See our webinar on May 28, 2020 which is part of a series on ‘Preparing your Flexible Office Space for a New Normal‘ for more information on this topic.

While very large segments of the workforce are asked to stay home, not everyone can work from home. Many do not have the infrastructure to do so efficiently, including staying away from other members in their households, when concentrated work is required and the home falls short. 

That is where Flexible Office Spaces can help, as long as they can demonstrate strong Health & Safety practices that make it a safer environment than home.

We strongly recommend that CloudVO Partners:

1. Have a strong comprehensive Health & Safety Policy
2. Publish their Health & Safety Policy for users to review prior to entering the space
3. Follow though and enforce their own policy

Important aspects of the policy must include:

1. That all employees be required to wear face masks in the open or shared areas
2. That the office space and meeting rooms are de-densified to respect distancing guidelines of 6 feet on each side
3. That plexiglass panels be used in areas where people may tend to get closer than 6 feet, such as the reception desk.
4. That the high touch areas be frequently and thoroughly sanitized, including all meeting rooms, after each use.
5. That the traffic flow inside the center be clearly indicated in a way that prevents members and guests from coming within 6 feet of each other.

These guidelines will continue to evolve over time. They may be relaxed as stronger therapeutics become available, or they may become even more stringent if we are hit by a second wave of the virus. CloudVO Venue Partners are requested to follow the regulations in their States and Counties as they evolve, and they are encouraged to exceed these guidelines when possible. In May 2020, we offered our sister company Pacific Workplaces’ Health & Safety Policy as a template for their own. 

If you are a user of a CloudVO Partner location, please let us know what your experience with Health & Safety has been.  Our goal is to make them as safe or safer than home!

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