Staying Safe at Work Amid COVID-19

You never thought, in your white-collar job, you’d have to think about safety at work, right? I get it. But in the COVID-19 era, you do need to take extra precautions to stay safe on the job. In this video, you’ll find out what to do at your office to lower the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 there.

Unless you have COVID-19 antibodies confirmed by a test—and even then according to my healthcare providers—you’ll want to take special measures to protect yourself from getting it. That’s because (a) you don’t want to get sick, and (b) you don’t want to become a carrier who may infect others by mistake.

So whether you’ve been at the office all along or will be heading back soon, here are 6 things the CDC recommends you do:

(1) Maintain 6 feet of distance from people whenever possible. The most likely way to catch Coronavirus is by breathing the droplets from a person’s cough, sneeze, or exhalation. If your team needs to meet, and there isn’t enough room to spread out, you can do a video conference from your desks.

(2) Wear a mask (store bought or homemade, like a tied bandanna or scarf). No, people won’t get to see your beautiful smile (except for around your eyes). But wearing a mask prevents you from getting others sick in case you are infected but not aware yet. It lowers the chances that someone else’s droplets will reach your mucus membranes. And it reduces the chances of accidentally touching mucus membranes on your face.

(3) Don’t rub your eyes! While wearing a mask at work, the only mucus membrane that is exposed is your eyes.

(4) Don’t shake hands. While you do want to greet people warmly, you can give a namaste bow from a safe distance.

(5) Wash your hands for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer every half hour to hour. This will kill the virus in case you touch something that has the virus on it. It’s a backup method in case you accidentally touch your face, which is easy to do without thinking.

(6) Make sure your organization has someone daily cleaning and disinfecting all frequently touched surfaces—or do it yourself. According to the CDC, this includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.

With these 6 practices, you and your colleagues can prevent contracting COVID-19 at work. If you found this video helpful, please like it and click the button to subscribe so you don’t miss the rest of our COVID-19 career video series. Stay safe, my friends!