Canadian HR Reporter

www.hrreporter.com 9 "There's the whole idea of how do you get people to understand what the social distancing protocols are in your office and how do you reinforce those habits so that people consistently follow them? Social distancing is not a natural state for most of us; it's a new skill. And, so, how does that translate when we get back to the workspace?" One way to reinforce social distancing is wearable technology that can buzz or beep when a person comes too close. While this could make sense if people are not comfortable speaking up when a co-worker invades their space, there are questions around how effective it is, says Arrandale. "I think there's more information needed before people jump in the deep end on that." It all depends on the appetite of the company and employees, and there are different granularities possible w i t h o c c u p a n c y a n d a n a l y t i c s , says Stewart. "There's a lot of great technology out there that says, 'Hey, we can we can tell you when somebody comes within six feet of somebody' but the answer is going to be 'OK, then what happens?'" he says. "We might know somebody, for lack of a better term, is a 'habitual offender' and maybe there's some corrective action [needed], but you're not going see that until there's some analytics done." Social distancing Along with providing enhanced cleaning and hand sanitizer stations, employers can have workers travel in one direction so they don't cross paths and limit meet- ing rooms to a small number of people — or close them altogether. It's likely that common areas with a lot of interaction, such as kitchens, will be closed in the short term while washrooms will have limited occupancy, says Arrandale. "Those shared spaces where the high- touch surfaces exist are going to be challenging… So, instead of having everyone eating at one time, you have a rotational schedule, but there is going to be then a need for cleaning. So, it might be easier to ask people to stay at their desk for those breaks, acknowledging that that there may be other consequences to that, and people may not be happy or comfortable with that." For all of these, it's helpful to have diagrams in the form of posters or signage, says Bergeron. "This new behaviour is not business as usual, so it's not necessarily natural — people might forget. So, [it's about] reinforcing the messaging that we are giving, perhaps virtually through revamped etiquette guides and… temporary visual cues." Floor graphics can also reinforce the six-foot radius recommended for distancing, says Hofknecht. Barriers and face coverings When it comes to actual workstations, employers can try a "checkerboard" ap- proach to separate people and look at expanding individual work areas. Despite the big push in recent years for open offices, that concept is not going to be popular going forward, says Hofknecht. Instead, protective barriers can be attached to workstations, such as clear or frosted Plexiglass. "That helps create that extra distance that you have between people and creates that extra barrier." While we don't have good evidence as to how effective those barriers are, they still have value in a quantitative sense, says Arrandale. "They're fairly easy to manufacture and install. It also gives a physical reminder to people to keep their physical distance... So, they very well may be effective in reducing this droplet spread." As for face coverings, this is advisable if workers cannot maintain a six-foot distance from each other, she says. "The suggestion is that they will reduce transmission so they'll protect the people around the wearer rather than protecting the wearer as we would think of for a respirator… It's low risk and it potentially has a lot of benefits." However, some people may not feel comfortable wearing a mask, says Hofknecht. Citing the speeches of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, it's not necessarily about telling people what to do but why they should do it, she says. "I'm wearing a mask to protect you. You wear a mask to protect me, that's how we show respect for one another." And while some employers might be tempted to conduct temperature screening, that's a tricky area, says Arrandale. "You're only monitoring one symptom of a complicated virus that we don't know a lot about. And there are many other symptoms in it… Some people are asymptomatic… You still may miss people. My worry would be that it would give a false sense of security about who is on-site. And that may lead to a relaxing around other prevention measures. So, it certainly could be one piece of a larger puzzle." CHRR "Social distancing is not a natural state for most of us; it's a new skill. How does that translate when we go back to work?" Cathy Hofknecht, neuconcepts

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