The health and safety of employees is the most important factor to consider when discussing plans to return to the office. In order for employees to feel safe companies need to look beyond the traditional badge systems, cameras, and security guards.
A study commissioned by Honeywell to gauge workers’ perceptions and feelings regarding the health and safety of their workplace found that most don’t feel totally comfortable being there. The study surveyed 2,000 workers that typically work in buildings with 500 or more employees across the United States. The findings show that a majority of the workforce (68 percent) did not feel completely safe working in their employer’s buildings. This number is even higher for those working remotely (75 percent), who are especially skeptical about the safety of work sites. In fact, nearly one in four remote workers would look for a new job rather than return to an office that did not implement necessary safety measures.
More than half of surveyed workers agree that their building management has not taken the steps necessary to keep them safer on the job, and 60 percent believe their building is more likely to make short-term changes in response to the pandemic versus long-term investments in building systems. Workers are most worried that building management won’t consistently enforce health and safety guidelines, followed by worry that they won’t consistently invest in new technology to make working in-person safer.
When the pandemic started, I was leading the workplace operations team for AmerisourceBergen, which had a 300,000 square foot office building in Carrollton, TX. We quickly started following CDC guidelines to reduce exposure and spread of COVID 19. We used multiple mitigation strategies, including improvements to building ventilation, physical distancing, wearing face masks, hand hygiene, and implementing a vaccination policy.
These measures may seem a little extreme but its important companies show their employees their making an effort to make the workplace safe. Some companies may be in a multi tenant building and not have control over the HVAC system, but that’s no excuse. Theres still measures you can take that are in your control to improve the indoor air quality.
If your company hasn’t made the investment to improve the air quality in your office or follow the CDC recommended guidelines to reduce exposure to viruses, then their missing the mark.