Regarding retail stores, big and small ones alike, the new regulations have introduced safety measures regarding employees and their interactions with the customers. It is therefore necessary to invest towards an optimisation of the sales floor, in order to make it safer from a hygienic and environmental perspective.
1_MATERIAL AND EQUIPMENT SUPPLY
Best practices regarding personal and environmental hygiene need to be highly encouraged, both with customers and employees.
Materials that will have to be supplied to all the employees are:
- disposable gloves;
- disposable or washable masks, to optimise usage;
- alcohol-based gel;
- infrared thermometer at the entrance, if possible;
- special products to wash the clothes;
- washable and hygienic plexiglass screen/barrier for cashier stations;
- disposable tissues;
- queue control system.
2_HYGIENE AND SANITATION
Regular sanitation of the following:
- cashier desk;
- door or passageways handles;
- glass or mirrors that could be touched by the customers;
- clean/sanitise the dressing rooms after every customer, if possible, otherwise every hour;
- clean screens/barriers at least once per hour.
- 3_PHYSICAL DISTANCING
The store will change their operations in order to follow the new regulations and safety distance, so it’ll be necessary, in every store, to:
- set up screens/barriers between employees and customers;
- organise staggered access to the store according to the size of the sales floor;
- establish the maximum number of customers allowed inside the store (i.e. 1-2 customers, if the store is small);
- in case of a bigger store, keep entrance and exit separated;
- utilise queue columns to regulate the queues at the entrance of the store or at the cashier desk, in order to avoid crowds, with the specification/signage of one meter distance on the floor;
- keep all doors open unless it’s strictly necessary to periodically close them (bathrooms, entrance);
- plan employees shifts allowing only one person at a time inside the stockroom, or similar areas;
- reduce the average weight of merchandise boxes in order to allow one single employee to carry them (i.e. max 10 kg).
Specific operating procedures:
- mandatory use of a mask at the cashier desk;
- utilise a tissue/toothpick to press buttons (i.e. elevators, coffee machine, Ipad, etc.);
- select an employee for the cashier desk and another to serve customers;
- identify some areas where merchandise could be placed in order to avoid physical contact with co-workers and respect the 1 meter distance;
- establish the procedure that needs to be followed by employees when they bring the merchandise to the customers, in order to avoid direct contact (i.e. a table or a hanging rack).
The majority of the aforementioned considerations refer to the guidelines imposed by the World Health Organisation, updated on March 31st:
Operational considerations for COVID-19 management in the accommodation sector” 31 March 2020_ World Health Organisation 2020. Some rights reserved.