COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the workplace. To reduce the spread of the virus, some organizations have allowed more people to work remotely and instituted daily health checks and staggered start and break times for those working in-office.
Even with social distancing signage and the presence of hand sanitization stations, those unable to work from home may still be concerned about office safety. In this Q & A, Dana S. Mazo, MD, MSc, an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Infectious Disease) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and physician lead for Infection Prevention at Mount Sinai Queens, offers practical advice on how to protect yourself in the office.
How do I know that my office is safe?
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has put out a set of guidelines for larger offices during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can check with the facilities department or your manager to see if the building is following these recommendations.
The rules start with conducting a thorough risk assessment to identify potential workplace hazards that could increase risks for COVID-19 transmission. Building owners and facilities managers should modify or adjust seats, furniture, and workstations so employees sit at least six feet apart. OSHA also recommends improving ventilation in the building by increasing total airflow as well as the percentage of outdoor air in the offices. And, housekeeping should clean and disinfect all surfaces that are frequently touched by many people on at least a daily basis.
How should I clean my office?
Start by cleaning the major high-touch surfaces—such as your desktop, keyboard, mouse, and the arms of your chair—with a sanitizing wipe. Hard surfaces, such as desks and chairs, are more likely to hang onto germs than porous materials, such as paper. If you’re not sure whether to clean, remember an extra swipe can’t hurt.
It is important to clean surfaces after someone else has touched them, since it is possible to transmit the virus by touching a contaminated surface with your hand and then touching your face, especially mouth, nose or eyes. If someone else used your work space within the past three days, make sure to clean before you start work.
Having a personal air purifier might be helpful in your immediate area. But what would be more useful would be if the entire building follows OSHA recommendations on air flow during this time.
Do I need to wear a face covering throughout the entire day?
If you have a closed office all to yourself, you don’t need to wear a face covering until someone wants to come into your space. If you share the office with someone, you’ll want to wear your face covering all day. This recommendation is especially important if desks are closer than six feet apart, but when people are sharing office space for an extended amount of time, six feet is not a hard boundary.
Open office plans are a different story as you may sit close to several people. Plus, there are those who walk by on their way to a meeting, the lunchroom, or the bathroom. The safest advice is to wear a face covering, even if co-workers are more than six feet apart. Throughout the Mount Sinai Health System, employees are required to wear face coverings at all times, unless in a closed office by themselves. But, even if it is safe to take your face covering off because there are no co-workers close by, keep it handy. If someone stops to chat, try to keep a distance of six feet and put your face covering on. You may be thinking that if your colleague seems fine, and it’s just the two of you, you don’t need to cover your face. But remember, your office mate could be infectious but not have any symptoms. Also, sharing the air with that person means you are at risk for everyone that person has had contact with—on their way to work, in the supermarket, or at home.
How should I navigate elevators and communal office spaces?
Always wear a face covering in hallways, bathrooms, meeting spaces, kitchens, and any other communal spaces. You never know when someone is going to come around the corner.
When riding the elevator, keep your face covering on. Most buildings limit the number of people on each elevator car, often at 50 percent capacity. This means even before you get to the elevator, you must be careful as lobbies may be full of people waiting for their turn to ride up. If there are so many people that you cannot socially distance, you may want to wait outside the lobby for a few minutes until the area clears. Remember, outdoors is always safer than indoors because of the air circulation and often greater space for social distancing.
Inside the elevator, try to keep an arm’s length away from anyone else and limit conversation as talking forces respiratory droplets into the air. And, if you must push a button for your floor, don’t forget to wash your hands after.
How do I safely eat lunch at the office?
Lunchtime is often the time of greatest risk for transmission, because you have to take off your mask. Also, people let their guard down. You may not have seen your colleagues in months and want to catch up. But you still need to be on guard. It is important to keep at least six feet away from people during lunch when your face covering is off so that you can eat and drink.
Additionally, remember to wash your hands after using highly touched items like the office refrigerator, sink, microwave, or water cooler.
What about the bathroom?
The one place you cannot avoid during a day in the office—other than your desk—is the bathroom. Make sure to keep on your face covering and create as much social distancing as possible. Try not to stand next to someone; if there are multiple sinks or urinals, leave an empty spot between you and anyone else. There are a lot of commonly touched items in bathrooms, so the key here is hand washing. Wash your hands when entering and leaving the bathroom. And, before you flush, close the toilet lid—if possible.
When in doubt, maintain social distance, wear a face covering and wash your hands.
Now that we’re back in the office, are in-person meetings safe?
The best way to meet during a pandemic is virtually. But if the whole point of coming into the office was to be able to interact in person, then you’re going to need to be creative. Face coverings are a given, but you also need to think about ways to maintain social distance. One option, if possible, is to meet outdoors. If that isn’t an option, think about using a large auditorium, even for a group of a dozen people, as it’s easier to keep six feet apart if you have a few people in a large space.
Wherever you go, you should take the basic COVID-19 precautions: face coverings, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes. Some people also wear gloves, but most experts recommend against it. Because gloves can lead to complacency and you could easily end up touching your face or not washing your hands sufficiently. If you do wear gloves, remain vigilant.