Image by Klaus Hausmann from Pixabay

By Henry Brown

Coronavirus. COVID-19. Pandemic. Social distancing. Self-isolation. Quarantine.

All words that have become part of our everyday language in 2020. How many of these words did we use before this year? Not many.

Let’s add another to the list: Contact Tracing

Being an active part of contact tracing is just one of the many ways that you as a small business can support and play a part in the fight against coronavirus. We all have a part to play in this battle; without communities, businesses, scientists and healthcare agencies working together, there will be no end in sight for a long time to come.

What else can you do to make sure that your business plays a part in the fight against coronavirus?

Contact tracing

As we have already mentioned this one, we will start with it. Having access to a contact tracing service can be useful t the best of times because infectious illnesses such as regular influenza, chickenpox, measles and so on can spread like wildfire through a small workplace. Being able to trace who people have been in contact with means that you can contain it much more easily and prevent it from becoming a public health emergency. It is more important than ever with COVID-19 lurking about.

Allow your staff to work from home if possible

Reducing the number of people we have physical contact with is one of the key strategies towards fighting the pandemic. It is difficult, especially when it comes to seeing our families and friends, but it is important. If possible, allow your workforce to work remotely from home. This reduces the number of people mixing in the streets, using public transport and in the workplace. Of course, you do need to make sure that they are set up to work from home, with access to appropriate technology and tools.

Make sure the workplace is safe

If your workers do need to come in to do their job, make it as safe as possible for them. Spread desks or workstations out so employees are at least two meters away from each other and preferable not facing one another. Stagger break times and access to shared areas such as the canteen or break and clean and sanitize them thoroughly in between shifts.

Enable your staff to self-isolate without fear

Many people are wary of having time off work, even if they display symptoms of coronavirus or are asked to self-isolate because of possible exposure to the illness. This is because some employers are not as conscientious as others when it comes to playing their part in the fight against it, and threaten staff with being fired or not paying them. If your staff needs to stay at home, don’t make it difficult for them. Sure, it makes things challenging for you as an employer to cover their shift or get someone else to complete the work, but if the illness was to spread around your business and potentially to customers, you are going to have even bigger problems.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking sho