What's a Covid-Secure Workplace? How Your Office Could Change

As the UK tries to simultaneously contain the pandemic and return to some semblance of normal, businesses have been asked to ensure they can provide a ‘Covid-secure workplace’ for their employees to return to.

In August, the decision to return to the office was moved into employers’ hands, so long as staff can work safely in a Covid-secure workplace. In offering employers more discretion around how their staff can work safely, Prime Minister Boris Johnson explained: “That could mean continuing to work from home…or it could mean making workplaces safe by following Covid-secure guidelines”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan added: “We’ve also got to make sure that places of work have the adaptations to make sure they’re safe – hand sanitisers being available, social distancing measures being in place [as well as] proper signage.”

Despite the new national lockdown which came into place at the start of January, the guidance around Covid-secure workplaces will continue to be crucial once UK businesses can return to their offices.

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What's a Covid-secure workplace?

As businesses try to mitigate the risk of infection, our offices – and the way we move around them – will be a little different to how they once were.

According to The Health and Safety Executive, Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety, creating a Covid-secure workplace will need to involve the following: 

• Conducting risk assessments 
• Allowing social distancing to take place
• Implementing cleaning, hygiene and handwashing protocols
• Talking to employees about these changes

The HSE also outlines guidance on working from home, such as speaking to your employees about their wellbeing, and providing the right equipment where needed so that they can effectively work remotely.

Environmental and behavioural factors of Covid-secure workplaces

As outlined in Knight Frank’s ‘Covid-19 Office Re-occupancy Roadmap’, these changes will fall into two categories:

Environmental changes

These could include:

• Enhanced cleaning regimes
• Increased airflow
• Changing HVAC filters

Behavioural changes

These could include:

• Respecting social distancing
• Following one-way systems (as outlined by signage)
• Adhering to clear desk policies to ensure workstations can be cleaned

Knight Frank’s ‘Covid-19 Office Re-occupancy Roadmap’ also provides risk and capacity overlays which you can print out to assess both risk levels and social distancing requirements.

It helps identify the spaces that provide the highest risk of contamination and creates a roadmap for reducing surface transmission through increased cleaning and new behavioural protocols.

Who is responsible for ensuring workplaces are Covid-secure?

Although everyone is responsible for following behavioural guidelines (such as social distancing), businesses that are renting flexible, serviced office space will have the hassle-free luxury of leaning on the expertise of their office space provider.

As we enter the new normal, our offices – and the way we move around them – will be a little different to how they once were.

The new office: How flexible office space providers are creating Covid-secure workplaces

Flexible office space providers have gone above and beyond to not only create Covid-secure workplaces, but many have rolled out additional features that will ease your transition back into the office, factoring in public transport concerns and socially distant space requirements.

From thermal imaging cameras to apps that monitor footfall, here’s how your office could change.

Landmark

Landmark’s workspaces have been designed to enhance productivity and create a positive environment for its clients.

John Whitley, Sales and Marketing Director at Landmark explains: “We’ve worked hand in hand with our clients on our Covid-secure strategy and have learned that their three biggest concerns are cleanliness, travel and child care. Landmark is owned by the OCS Group – which is the organisation that was contracted to clean the Nightingale Hospital. In this world where cleanliness is such a concern, that gives our clients the reassurance that we’re held to such a high standard.”

Landmark’s Covid-secure strategy – named ‘Clean Start’ – not only includes hand sanitiser stations, signage and buffer seating, but a range of tech enhancements, too. For example, offices now include thermal imaging cameras that can spot high temperatures and a footfall monitoring app that helps you avoid dense areas by allowing you to see how many people are in a space before you book it.

To reduce the risk of high touch points, wires in meeting rooms have also been replaced by mirroring devices, so teams can just log on to screens. Contactless printing has also been introduced and door handles have tags – akin to those in hotels – which will either specify when a room was last cleaned, or a ‘Do Not Enter’ message.

Whitley continues: “Our clients are really grateful for all these different steps. There isn’t one stand-out thing that’s made them feel safe; it’s the collective experience of these different approaches. One CEO of a UK business, for example, said that between the staff and the service, her return to the office has felt stress-free.”

The Boutique Workplace Company

The Boutique Workplace Company prides itself on providing boutique, design-led serviced office space in and around central London.

Danielle Jones, Sales Director at The Boutique Workplace Company explains: “We carried out a risk assessment across all of our 30 workplaces in London to ensure that when our clients were ready to return to the office, they felt safe and secure.”

These measures included applying a Zoono antimicrobial clean to communal areas, enhancing cleaning regimes on regularly touched surfaces, adding hand sanitizer stations throughout all offices, displaying safety signage, encouraging one-way systems and enabling social distancing to take place.

In order to protect both staff and clients, PPE has also been provided to staff and screens have also been installed in reception.

Jones continues: “We have a variety of self-contained floors from as little as 800 square feet, which means we can accommodate many businesses seeking a self-contained feel with no shared facilities to reduce their employees’ risk to exposure. Plus, the majority of our workplaces have opening windows, which allow for the preferred fresh airflow”.

Businesses that are renting flexible, serviced office space will have the hassle-free luxury of leaning on the expertise of their office space provider.

TOG (The Office Group)

TOG designs beautiful shared workspaces that inspire positivity and productivity. Each location is created with an individual aesthetic, resulting in 50 unique spaces across the UK and Germany.

TOG has upgraded overall cleaning specifications and the quality of its air filtration systems, increasing its fresh air intake and restricting the re-circulation of air within its buildings. TOG has also introduced new spacious furniture layouts to enable social distancing with clear signage, helping members navigate the new facilities and one-way systems.

For members who need help sourcing products such as PPE and desk dividers, TOG is making these available at cost.

To connect both the physical and virtual office worlds, Alex Clark, Sales Director at TOG explains: “We have significantly increased our Zoom capabilities, adding 66 new Zoom enhanced meeting rooms to our portfolio with at least one in every TOG building. This means teams can safely meet in small groups for collaborative work while connecting with other team members who are working from home or in one of our other spaces as TOG members can use every building across the portfolio, giving them the freedom and flexibility to choose a location that suits their commute.”

Naturally, social distancing measures both within members’ offices and in the shared areas mean capacity in each building is reduced, which is why members can now book additional workspace at no extra cost in 10 locations across the TOG portfolio to space their teams out safely.

Every coworking member has also been allocated a dedicated desk free of charge to ensure they have a safe and socially distanced space to work from. To further accommodate physical distancing, members are also being upgraded to larger meeting rooms, free of charge.

The Argyll Club

The Argyll Club offers discreet, premium workspaces in 38 of Central London’s finest locations, from meeting rooms and private lounges to fully serviced offices.

Will Garrett, Head of Business Development at The Argyll Club explains: “The health and safety of our members has always been our top priority. As they begin to return to the office, our goal is to provide a safe and comfortable place for them to meet and collaborate face-to-face.

“We’ve gone above and beyond the government guidelines to adapt our workspaces to allow for workplace distancing, enhanced our cleaning procedures, and devised a new set of house rules that, among other things, asks everyone to wear PPE face masks in all communal areas.

“We’ve also removed chairs in meeting rooms and lounges to allow for social distancing and offered additional space to members for free if they need it for their teams.”

To help members get to work safely and avoid public transport, The Argyll Club has also increased the amount of secure bike storage space across its portfolio, as well as introduced a bike servicing partner.